ikXMW Of ®0tt0WjSi. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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THE 



STATE OF THE SOUL 



BETWEEN 



DEATH AM) THE RESURRECTION 



BY 

REV. PHINEAS BLAKEMAN, 

NORTH MADISON, CONN. 



NEW YORK: ^ 
M. W. DODD, PUBLISHER, 

Corner Park Row and City Hall Square. 



ftl* 



& 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 

M. W. DODD, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of 
New York. 






CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introduction, 1 



CHAPTER I. 

'The conscious Existence of the Soul after Death— Revealed par- 
tially in the Old Testament— Revealed /ully^ in the New 
Testament, 7 

CHAPTER II. 

The Mode of the Soul's Existence in its Disembodied State — 
Nothing revealed in the Bible respecting it — The various 
Conjectures of Divines, 26 

CHAPTER III.; 

The Location of the World in which the Soul resides between 
Death and the Resurrection — The Bible throws noj Light 
on this Subject — The Spiritual World may lie all around 
us, 48 



IV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

PAGE 

The Employments of the Soul in the Intermediate State — Wor- 
ship of God and Christ— Intercourse with Angels and re- 
deemed Saints— Recognition of Friends — Active Service in 



57 



CHAPTER Y. 

The Duration of the Intermediate State— The Change through 
which the Soul passes in the Resurrection — Why the Resur- 
rection is necessary, 91 



Conclusion, 112 



INTRODUCTION. 

"Truly, Brother L., we have had to-day 
from our minister an excellent discourse 
upon an exceedingly interesting subject. " 

" Yes, indeed, we have, and I have felt 
myself very much instructed and comforted 
by it." 

" The state of the soul between death and 
the resurrection, Brother L., is a subject very 
seldom discoursed upon from the pulpit, and 
I was much pleased when our minister an- 
nounced it as the theme of his sermon to-day. 
The ability with which he handled it has 
cleared up much of the darkness which, to 
my mind, has hitherto hung over the land 
of departed spirits. I feel myself amply 
paid for the sacrifice I made by attending 
church this forenoon in my present state of 
health. But, I presume, the sermon was still 
more interesting and edifying to you. Deeply 
1 



2 INTKODUCTION. 

afflicted as you have been of late by the loss 
of so many of your nearest and dearest 
friends, I have no doubt that you regarded 
a discourse upon the state of the soul between 
death and the resurrection, as peculiarly 
adapted to instruct and comfort you." 

" Yes, Deacon H., you are right in saying 
so. The sermon this forenoon was peculiarly 
adapted to my case, and I believe that I 
have been greatly benefited by it. I would 
not have missed hearing it on any account. 
Friendless and desolate as I am by the loss 
of my whole family, my thoughts, as you 
may well suppose, are often fixed on that 
world which has now become the home of 
all that I once loved on earth. I often ask 
myself what have become of my departed 
wife and children ? are they in a state of 
conscious existence? and do they still re- 
member me and sympathize with me in my 
loneliness and deep desolation of spirits ? in 
what world do they reside? in what are 
they employed ? and how do they exist in- 
dependent of their bodies ? 
, c 'Subj ects such as these occupy much of my 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

thoughts, and awaken daily the deepest in- 
terest in my mind. Hence I listened to the 
sermon this forenoon with more profit and 
pleasure than any one I have ever heard 
from our minister. I was so much pleased 
with it that I intend to call on him to mor- 
row and converse with him in regard to the 
several topics of his discourse.'' 

" Well, I certainly would, if I were in your 
place. I have no doubt but that Mr. M. 
would be glad to see you, and would impart 
with pleasure all the information he can give 
you on this subject." 

The individuals between whom this con- 
versation took place were men of unusual 
piety and intelligence. One of them was a 
deacon in the church, to which the sermon 
that had formed the theme of their conversa- 
tion had been delivered. The other was a 
man who was passing through one of those 
unusual scenes of affliction which spread so 
much mystery and darkness over the provi- 
dential governments of God. Possessed of 
a superior and highly-cultivated mind, in 
wealthy circumstances, and an elevated social 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

position ; yet he was a friendless, desolate, 
and sorrowful man. All his family, includ- 
ing a wife and three adult children, had been 
during the past year swept away within a 
few days of each other by an epidemic. After 
their death he felt himself only a stranger 
and pilgrim in the world, and devoted much 
of his time to the contemplation of that land 
where all his friends had gone, and where 
he himself expected ere long to take up his 
abode during the period of time between 
death and the resurrection. 

With this explanation of his circumstances, 
it will be perceived that he had listened 
with no ordinary interest to a discourse from 
his minister on the state of the soul in the 
spiritual world. The text was : Man dieth 
and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the 
ghost, and where is he? The object of the 
sermon was to answer the question thus pro- 
posed, by showing that a man after his death 
is in a world where he is still a conscious, 
thinking being — that he is in a world where 
he is a disembodied spirit — that he is in that 
part of the universe which constitutes the 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

spiritual world — that he is in a state of being 
where he is employed in occupations suited 
to his exalted condition — that he is in a 
world where he will reside until the resur- 
rection. 



1* 



CHAPTER I. 

THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 

Acting on the resolution which he had 
formed, when returning from church on the 
previous Sabbath, Mr. L. called in the early 
part of the week to see Mr. M., the minister 
from whose discourse on the soul in its dis- 
embodied state he had derived so much com- 
fort and edification. 

After the usual salutations on such an 
occasion, Mr. L. made known the particular 
object of his visit by remarking, "Your dis- 
course, Mr. M., in the forenoon last Sabbath, 
afforded me a great deal of pleasure, and I 
have called to have some conversation with 
you on the several topics which you handled 
in your sermon." 

"I am very glad, indeed," replied Mr. M., 
"if I was enabled to present the subject in 
such a light as to comfort and edify you in your 



8 THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE 

deep desolation of spirit. It was partly with 
a view to this end that I wrote the sermon ; 
and if I can give you any further instruction 
and consolation, you may be assured that I 
shall be happy to do so." 

"If, then, it will not take up too much of 
your time, I should like to converse with 
you on the several points of your discourse." 

"I have nothifrg particularly demanding my 
attention to-day, and I can, therefore, with- 
out the least inconvenience, devote as much 
time as you wish to the discussion of this 
subject." 

"If I recollect aright, Mr. M., you dis- 
coursed in your sermon on these several top- 
ics: The conscious existence of the soul 
after death ; the mode of the soul's existence 
in the spiritual world ; the location of the 
disembodied spirit's residence ; its employ- 
ments, and the duration of the period of time 
intermediate between death and the resur- 
rection." 

"Yes, Mr. L., you are right, I believe. These 
were the several subjects I discoursed upon 
in my forenoon sermon last Sabbath." 



OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 9 

" I should like, Mr. M., to take up these 
points and discuss them more particularly 
with you. I think that in this way I shall 
gain the most profit from your conversation." 

" Certainly, Mr. L. In any form you please, 
I shall be happy to afford you any informa- 
tion I can on this highly-interesting subject." 

" I will thank you, then, Mr. M., to give me 
an outline of your argument in proof of the 
conscious existence of the soul immediately 
after death. This, as you are doubtless 
aware, is to me an intensely interesting sub- 
ject. In dwelling upon the loss of my be- 
loved ones, the question almost every day 
has arisen in my mind for several months 
past : what has become of them ? where are 
they? Their bodies are mouldering in the 
graveyard. But in what condition are their 
souls ? Do they still continue in the exercise 
of all the faculties they possessed on earth ? 
Or, have they ceased to exist, as some be- 
lieve, until the morning of the resurrection ; 
when, along with their bodies, they will 
awaken to renewed life and activity ? Your 
views on this subject I should like exceed- 



10 THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE 

ingly to hear stated again, in order that I 
may satisfy my mind and fully confirm my 
belief." 

"All our knowledge, Mr. L., on these seve- 
ral points must be derived from the Bible, as 
I endeavored to show in my discourse upon 
the state of the soul between death and the 
resurrection. When we consult the dictates 
of reason in regard to the fate of the soul af- 
ter its connection with the body is dissolved, 
we are left in total ignorance. The region 
to which it has fled, if, indeed, we can find 
evidence enough from the light of nature to 
convince us that it still survives, seems a 
land of darkness, as darkness itself. No 
traveller ever comes back from its bourn to 
clear up the mystery which hangs over it. 
No voice issues from its depths to enlighten 
our ignorance. Nor is there any other way 
suggested by the aid of human reason by 
which our curiosity can be gratified. As we 
contemplate by the light of nature the soul 
taking its departure from the body, we can 
only exclaim with Job: Man dieth, and 
giveth up the ghost ; and where is he ? 



OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 11 

"In the midst of this deep darkness, if we 
open the Bible, we find clear and satisfying 
light. We find evidence abundantly enough 
to satisfy every reasonable mind that the soul 
does exist after death in the full exercise of 
all its faculties. Throughout the Bible the 
conscious existence of the soul after death is 
a distinctly-recognized and clearly-revealed 
doctrine." 

" That point,Mr. M.,I think you conclusive- 
ly established in your sermon. But I should 
like to have you state again the ^particular 
proof of it from the Bible." 

" That I will do with pleasure, Mr. L. Let 
us, then, begin with the Old Testament. In 
this portion of the sacred writings, it is true, 
we do not find the conscious existence of the 
soul immediately after death, so fully and 
distinctly affirmed as in the New Testament. 
And the reason of it I suppose to be, that 
the Jews lived under an economy in which 
a full retribution was awarded to their ac- 
tions in the present life. Here on earth they 
were punished for their sins soon after they 
had committed them, and were also speedily 



12 THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE 

recompensed for their virtues. Hence their 
attention was not as much called to the fu- 
ture world as that of Christians who live 
under Gospel dispensation, which points for- 
ward to eternity as the place where mankind 
will receive a final and perfect recompense 
for their deeds done in the body. Yet, how- 
ever, the Old Testament scriptures clearly 
teach in many passages the conscious exist- 
ence of the soul immediately after death. 
Under the Hebrew term sheol, sometimes 
wrongly translated the grave, the pit, and hell, 
they represent the world of departed spirits as 
a community of conscious intelligent beings. 
"As,for instance, in Psalm xvi., where David 
says, Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; i e. 
in the world of departed spirits. The per- 
sonage referred to in this language, Peter 
tells us is Christ. (Acts ii. 27.) Hence, Da- 
vid believed in a state of existence where 
departed spirits are living conscious beings, 
and where Christ resided between his death 
and resurrection. This is evident if we para- 
phrase his prophecy and express it in a more 
expanded form. The full import of it may 



OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 13 

be conveyed in the following language : The 
soul of the Messiah when it shall leave his 
bodv, at the time of his death on the cross, 
shall go into sheol ; the place where the souls 
of all men go when they leave this world. 
But God will not leave his soul to remain 
there. He will remove it from the region of 
the dead and connect it with his body before 
the process of corruption has commenced. 

"Again : Jacob, when he heard of the death 
of Joseph, exclaimed, I will go down into 
the grave, unto my son, mourning. By the 
word grave here, which in Hebrew is sheol, 
it is very generally allowed that the afflicted 
patriarch meant the invisible world, the land 
of disembodied spirits. His meaning seems 
to have been, as a commentator has well ex- 
pressed it, I will go down to the dead, to 
death, to my son still there existing. (Barnes.) 

" The same truth — the conscious existence 
of the soul after death — is still more clearly 
revealed by the Old Testament in the four- 
teenth chapter of Isaiah. In this passage 
hell, sheol, the world of departed spirits, 
is represented as moved from beneath, to 
2 



14 THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE 

meet the King of Babylon, when he entered 
the regions of the dead. The inhabitants of 
this invisible world are described as thinking, 
active beings, inasmuch as they were intense- 
ly excited on learning the death of the fall- 
en tyrant, and raised a shout of exultation 
at the spectacle of his humiliation and over- 
throw. 

" These, and many other similar passages 
which I might cite, prove, I think very con- 
clusively, Mr. L., that the Old Testament 
does teach the conscious existence of the soul 
after it has left the body." 

"They certainly do, Mr. M., form a strong 
and conclusive argument in proof of this po- 
sition. But yet, there are some passages in 
the Old Testament which, seem to support 
the opposite opinion. I refer to ■ those 
which speak of the dead as asleep, as know- 
ing nothing, as incapable of praising God, 
and lying in darkness and silence.' How 
do you reconcile such declarations with those 
passages which you have cited to show that 
the Jews believed in the conscious existence 
of the soul after death ?" 



OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 15 

" Such passages,Mr. L., refer entirely to the 
body, and to the total disconnection of the 
dead with all the concerns of the present life. 
The dead are gone from this world, and have 
nothing more to do with its affairs. Their 
bodies, which, when they were alive, consti- 
tuted a very important part of their being, 
and were the means by which they were con- 
nected with the earth, are now destitute of 
all feeling and activity, and are commingled 
with the dust from whence they were taken. 
Hence, apparently, the dead have ceased to 
exist, and are often spoken of as such in all 
languages, even by those who firmly believe 
in the immortality of the soul. It is for this 
reason that the Old Testament frequently 
speaks of them in such a manner, as if they 
were in a state of inactivity and unconscious- 
ness. Such language refers exclusively to 
the body, and to the fact that the dead have 
no more connection with anything that is 
done under the sun." 

11 Before we proceed to the NewTestament, 
I should like to ask you, Mr. M., what idea 



16 THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE 

the Jews entertained of the world of departed 
spirits ?" 

l: In regard to this question, Mr. L., it is 
difficult to famish a satisfactory answer. As 
far as we can judge from the Bible, the Jews 
seemed to have regarded the spiritual world 
as a place utterly secluded from all human 
knowledge. It was a hidden, unseen, se- 
cluded and mysterious region. 'As they 
were ignorant of the size and spherical 
structure of the earth, they seem to have 
supposed this region to be situated in the 
earth far below us ; and hence it is put in 
opposition to heaven. Psalm cxxxix. 8, If 
I ascend to heaven, thou art there ; if I 
make my bed in hell (sheol), behold, thou art 
there.' (Barnes.) This unseen, hidden, mys- 
terious residence of departed spirits, they ap- 
pear to have believed, was divided into two 
parts. One of them was the abode of the 
righteous, w r hich they denominated Paradise, 
or Abraham's bosom. The other — the place 
where the wicked are punished — was called 
by a term which is translated hell in the 
English Bible. 



OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATE. 17 

"And, now, Mr. L., having finished our ex- 
amination of the Old Testament in reference 
to this subject, we will proceed to the New. 
Here, as I believe, I shall show you that the 
conscious existence of the soul immediately 
after death is fully and clearly revealed. In 
proof of this position, let the following pas- 
sages be considered : 

"Take, first, the parable of Dives and Laz- 
arus. In this narrative, which must be de- 
signed to represent the condition of the soul 
immediately after death, we see men who 
once lived in our world described as con- 
scious, active beings, in the full exercise of 
all their moral and intellectual faculties. We 
see them reasoning and conversing together, 
and recognizing each other, and in every 
other respect exerting their mental powers as 
when they were inhabitants of our world. 
Hence, though disembodied spirits, they were 
still conscious, active and intelligent beings. 

"The same truth is revealed with equal 

clearness in the declaration of Christ to the 

penitent thief. This forlorn man besought 

the Saviour to remember, when he entered 

2* 



18 THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE 

into his kingdom, the poor guilty wretch 
who was his fellow-sufferer on the cross. In 
answer to his petition, he received from the 
Saviour the gracious assurance, To-day shalt 
thou be with me in Paradise. The only 
meaning which can be given to this declara- 
tion is, that before the sun went down, the 
soul of the penitent thief would be with the 
Eedeemer in that of the spiritual world 
which the Jews denominated Paradise, and 
where Christ remained until his resurrection. 
" During the transfiguration of our Saviour, 
described in Matthew xvi. 1-6, we are told 
that Moses and Elias were present talking 
with him. At that time Moses had been 
dead several hundred years. His body had 
been buried in the land of Moab. Of course, 
then, it was the disembodied spirit of Moses 
which was seen by the disciples conversing 
with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. 
Moses, equally with Elias, was still a living, 
conscious, intelligent being, — as much so as 
when he was an inhabitant of our world. 
Hence there is every reason to believe that 
all of the human race who have died, are also 



OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 19 

in a state of conscious intelligent exist- 
ence. 

"Paul declares, 2 Cor. v. 6, 8, While we are 
at home in the body, we are absent from the 
Lord. In this passage Paul asserts that the 
souls of Christians, as soon as they leave their 
bodies, are in the immediate presence of 
Christ. They do not slumber in unconscious- 
ness, or remain annihilated until the resur- 
rection, and then appear in the especial 
presence of the Eedeemer. No. They go 
immediately to him as soon as they are re- 
leased from their bodies. 

■ • The same apostle says in his epistle to the 
Philippians, i. 21 : — For me to live is Christ, 
and to die is gain. The evident meaning of 
Paul in this declaration is, that if his life was 
prolonged on earth, the cause of Christ would 
be advanced by his labors. But if he should 
be removed from the world by death, such 
an event would contribute immensely to his 
happiness. Not because he would pass into 
a state of unconsciousness, but because death 
would take him from all his sorrows, and re- 
move him to a world of perfect joy. 



20 THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE 

" When he had opened the fifth seal, says 
John, Kev. vi. 9, 10, I saw under the altar 
the souls of them that ivere slain for the 
Word of God, and for the testimony which 
they held. And they cried with a loud voice, 
saying, How long, Lord, holy and true, 
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood 
on them that dwell on the earth ? The souls 
of them that were slain, whom the apostle saw 
in his heavenly vision, were the primitive 
martyrs who had been put to death by perse- 
cution, while engaged in propagating the 
Gospel in the world. ' These souls of the 
martyrs are represented as still in existence ; 
as remembering what occurred on earth ; as 
interested in what was now taking place ; as 
engaged in prayer ; and as manifesting earn- 
est desires for the divine interposition to 
avenge the wrongs which they had suffered.' 
(Barnes.) 

" These, and some other passages of the 
New Testament which might be cited, f arnish 
to my mind, Mr. L., clear and satisfactory 
evidence that the soul does not remain un- 
conscious until the morning of the resurrec- 



OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 21 

tion and then awakens to the possession of 
renewed life and activity. They prove to 
me, conclusively, that the soul, as soon as it 
leaves the body, enters on a state of exist- 
ence where it is a rational, thinking, active 
being, in the full exercise of all the faculties 
it employed on earth." 

" This point you have established, Mr. M., 
with the utmost certainty, in my estimation. 
And I cannot conceive how any honest, un- 
prejudiced mind, after reading these proof- 
texts, can arrive at any other conclusion than 
that the conscious existence of the soul after 
death is as clearly revealed in the New Tes- 
tament as the resurrection and the judg- 
ment. 

11 While we are upon this subject there is 
one point in connection with it, in respect to 
which I should like to ask your opinion. It 
seems strange to me that while the Bible so 
clearly reveals the conscious existence of the 
soul after it has left the body, the sacred 
writers make so little account of the inter- 
mediate state between death and the resur- 
rection. Most of their descriptions of future 



22 THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE 

happiness refer to the period after the resur- 
rection and the final judgment. They say- 
but very little respecting the long space of 
time in which the soul remains in its disem- 
bodied state. How do you account for this 
silence of the sacred writers in regard to this 
period of our existence in eternity ?" 

"I do not know, Mr. L., that I can give 
you any satisfactory information on this sub- 
ject. I have myself often thought of this 
omission in the Bible, when I have been 
reading its descriptions of the heavenly 
world. Perhaps the following explanation 
may, in some measure, account for it : 

" The object of the Bible, in its communica- 
tions respecting the future world, is not to 
gratify our curiosity. It aims simply to re- 
veal those truths which are adapted to ad- 
vance our spiritual good. Hence, while it 
tells us that as soon as we die we enter on a 
state of recompense for the deeds done in the 
body, — as much so as we shall after the 
general judgment, — it says little or nothing 
about this period of our being, beyond the 
bare statement of its existence. As a fuller 



OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 23 

account of the intermediate state has no con- 
nection with our spiritual improvement, it is, 
therefore, not revealed. Such knowledge 
would in no way incite us to a more diligent 
preparation for the eternity that is just before 
us. As it has j ustly been remarked by a cele- 
brated writer of the present age, l neither the 
discharge of present duties, nor the exercise 
of right affections, nor a substantial prepara- 
tion for taking a part in the glory that is to 
be revealed, is perhaps at all necessarily con- 
nected with just anticipations of this un- 
known futurity. 7 Hence, the . intermediate 
state is passed over in the Bible with little 
else than a bare statement of its existence, 
and death and the general judgment are 
spoken of as if the one was soon, or imme- 
diately, to succeed the other." 

" I should be pleased, Mr. M., to continue 
this discussion, but I fear I have already 
taken up too much of your time to-day, and I 
must, therefore, bid you good morning." 

" It would afford me pleasure, Mr. L., to 
have you remain longer. My time has been 
profitably and agreeably employed, and I 



24 THE CONSCIOUS EXISTENCE 

shall be happy to give you any further infor- 
mation within my power upon this subject. 
I have nothing on hand now which especially 
demands my attention." 

11 1 thank you, Mr. M. But I fear I have 
already engrossed too much of your time, 
and feel, therefore, that I ought to take my 
leave. If, however, on some other occasion 
when you are at leisure, it will be agree- 
able to you, I should like to converse with 
you respecting those other topics of your dis- 
course which we have not discussed to-day." 

" Certainly, Mr. L., I shall be pleased to see 
you at any time when it is convenient for 
you to call. You may be assured that I 
shall most cheerfully afford you whatever 
light I can on this interesting subject." 

" And now, Mr. M., before we part, let me 
thank you for the pleasure and edification 
your conversation has given me this morn- 
ing. I feel greatly comforted by the convinc- 
ing evidence you have furnished from the 
Bible, of the soul's conscious existence im- 
mediately after death. Although I did not 
disbelieve this truth, yet I had no satisfac- 



OF THE SOUL AFTER DEATH. 25 

tory proof of it. My belief was rather a re- 
ceived opinion of my religious education, 
than a well-established conviction of my un- 
derstanding. I have for some time ardently 
desired clear, definite evidence on this point, 
and you have abundantly furnished it. And 
now I feel that I may rest assured that, just 
as certain as the Bible is a revelation from 
God, just so sure is it that my departed 
friends are still living, conscious, thinking 
beings — as much so as when they dwelt with 
me on earth." 



CHAPTER II. 

THE SOUL'S EXISTENCE IN ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 

A few days after the conversation had 
taken place which is detailed in the preced- 
ing chapter, Mr. L. called one evening upon 
Mr. M. After ascertaining that the latter 
was at leisure to receive him, he begun 
the business which he had particularly in 
view by remarking : 

11 The subject of our discussion at our last 
interview, Mr. M., was the conscious exist- 
ence of the soul after death. Since that time 
I have thought intensely on that strange mys- 
terious existence on which a human spirit 
enters when it leaves the body. What a 
wonderful change does a man pass through 
when his soul leaves its earthly tenement, 
and he becomes a pure, spiritual being. His 
body is now no longer the instrument to ex- 



the soul's existence. 27 

ecute the wishes of his mind, and is no longer 
the medium through which he gains his 
knowledge of the visible creation. He neither 
hears, tastes, smells, sees, touches, nor in any- 
other way comes into communication with 
the material universe, as he did when he used 
his bodily faculties. How he exists in this 
strange mysterious state of being, without 
the use of any of the material organs by which 
his mind formerly executed its volitions, is 
a question of the deepest interest to me, and 
one of late upon which I have bestowed 
much thought and attention without having 
arrived at any satisfactory conclusion." 

"I do not know, Mr. L., that I can afford 
you the least information on this subject. 
The Bible, as we have seen, clearly reveals 
the fact of the soul's conscious existence after 
death. But in regard to the mode of its ex- 
istence in that world into which it has enter- 
ed, revelation gives us no certain information. 
It tells us with the utmost certainty that the 
soul survives the stroke which prostrates the 
body in ruins. It also gives us some knowl- 
edge respecting the land in which it has 



28 the soul's existence 

taken up its everlasting abode. But how the 
soul exists in its disembodied state, without 
any of the material organs by which it for- 
merly exerted its faculties, we are not in- 
formed in the Bible. In regard to this mat- 
ter it leaves us entirely in the dark. 

" Neither can we derive any light from hu- 
man reason. The land of spirits is a world 
where no human eye can penetrate, and from 
which none of the innumerable host of trav- 
ellers who are daily passing into it, ever 
return. It is a hidden, unknown, mysterious 
region, and its inhabitants are separated from 
us by a barrier over which not one of them 
can ever pass. We shall go to them, but 
they never can come back to us. Hence 
we are left wholly to conjecture in regard 
to the mode of the soul's existence aftefr 
death." 

"I remember, Mr. M., that you made the 
same remarks in your sermon. But I re- 
collect, also, that you gave an account of 
several conjectures which had been formed 
by theologians of the manner in which the 
soul might exist in the intermediate state. I 



IN" ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 29 

will feel myself much obliged to you if you 
will state them again." 

" That I certainly will do. I think I can 
arrange them so as to give you the clearest 
conception of them by detailing them as an- 
swers to the following questions : 

" 1. Does the soul, when its connection with 
the body is dissolved, exist a pure spirit, or 
does it reside in some kind of material ve- 
hicle adapted to its new state of being ? 

"2. In becoming free from the bod}^, does 
the soul retain the power of exercising all its 
faculties as it did on earth, or does it experi- 
ence an important change in this respect? 

" In regard to the point involved in the first 
of these questions, there are two different 
opinions among theologians who have de- 
voted much attention to this subject. Some 
believe that the soul, when it is released 
from its connection with the body, becomes 
wholly a spiritual being. In the interme- 
diate state it has no connection with matter 
in any form. It is entirely a spiritual sub- 
stance, and possesses nothing but its moral 
and intellectual natures. Whatever that is 
3* 



30 THE soul's existence 

which constitutes the basis or essence, or 
substratum of the mind, it still possesses, and 
retains nothing else of its former being. It 
has neither form, size, weight, nor individual 
appearance. It is a naked unembodied 
spirit, and will remain so until the resurrec- 
tion, when it will again be united with a 
body. 

" Others are of the opinion, that the soul, 
when it leaves the body, instead of being 
a purely immaterial spirit, is still connected 
with a material vehicle, which is interme- 
diate between its present body and the one 
it will receive at the resurrection. It is 
composed of materials which cannot, perhaps, 
be perceived by any of our senses, and is 
constituted in a manner unlike both the pres- 
ent mortal body and the spiritual body 
described by- Paul. It is entirely free from 
the infirmities of our earthly tabernacles, 
while it is very imperfect compared with the 
body which, raised in glory, will be fashioned 
after that of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

M This material clothing of the soul in the 
intermediate state is now contained in the 



IN ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 31 

present mortal frame. At the time the soul 
is separated from its earthly tabernacle, it 
carries its intermediate body along with it ; 
so that they both go forth into eternity con- 
nected together. The tenement in which the 
soul thus resides between death and the res- 
urrection, is the germ, the seminal principle, 
out of which will spring the spiritual body 
when the dead are raised, as the acorn is the 
seed out of which the oak is developed into 
a tree. 

" There are some passages of the Bible 
which seem to favor this view of the condition 
of the soul in the intermediate state. Such r 
for instance, is the account of the transfigura- 
tion of our Saviour on the mount. In this 
scene Moses and Elias both appear to have had 
some kind of bodies by which they were re- 
cognized by the disciples. So, also, the souls 
of Dives and Lazarus must have been con- 
nected with material vehicles whereby they 
retained their individual appearance, and re- 
cognized each other in the spiritual world. 

" Having disposed of the first of these two 
questions, we will now direct our attention 



32 the soul's existence 

to the second ; which is, does the soul, when 
released from the body, retain the power of 
exercising all its faculties as it did on earth, 
or does it experience an important change 
in this respect ? 

" The opinions held on this subject as on 
that involved in the preceding question, may 
be divided into two classes. 

"Some maintain, as Isaac Taylor, for in- 
stance, in his Saturday Evening and Physical 
Theory of Another Life, that when death de- 
stroys the body the soul survives in a state of 
conscious existence. But while it survives the 
destruction of its earthly tenement it is in a 
state of - comparative inaction and suspended 
energy.' The period between death and the 
resurrection is ' a transition state, during the 
continuance of which the passive faculties of 
our nature, rather than the active, are awake.' 
By the passive faculties in this passage the 
author means the power of meditation, intu- 
ition, the exercise of the affections and the con- 
science, and all other parts of our intellectual 
constitution which perform their functions 
independent of the will. By the active facul- 



IN ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 33 

ties is meant the understanding, the will, the 
memory, &c. 

" The soul thus retaining only the power 
of exercising its passive faculties, is reduced 
to the simplest condition in which a human 
being can exist, and yet possess thought and 
intelligence. It is human nature in its ele- 
mentary and rudimental state. This element- 
ary state consists in the exercise of self-con- 
sciousness and the moral faculties of our 
nature. 

. "All those feelings, passions, and principles 
of action, which have their origin in the 
body, have perished. The material universe, 
the sun, moon, earth, and stars, have become 
a complete blank, so that the soul can hold 
no more communication with them than if 
they did not exist. { Time, place, and sen- 
sation, have become extinct.' Time has be- 
come extinct because the mind ' cut off from 
all connection with the clock-work of the 
material universe' has no means of noting 
the flight of days and years. Place has be- 
come extinct, because this is a perception 
arising from the union of the soul with the 



34 THE soul's existence 

body, and that has now ceased. Sensation 
has become extinct, because it is experienced 
only through the five senses, and they are 
no longer the organs of the mind. 

1 'While the soul is thus completely de- 
livered from all the feelings produced by its 
connection with the body, and the material 
creation, it has likewise laid aside the exer- 
cise of its active faculties. The understand- 
ing does not reason. The power of the will 
is suspended. l Memory has lost its office.' 
The mind exerts its power only in medita- 
tion, self-consciousness, and in the exercise of 
its conscience and affections. 

" Eeduced to this condition the soul in the 
intermediate state dwells apart from all inter- 
course with other created beings, and is ' en- 
tombed in the solitude of its own nature.' It 
is conscious only of God and its own moral 
condition. God it feels by 4 a conscious- 
ness intuitive and irresistible/ and it is sur- 
rounded by him on every side, l as the mote 
that swims in the brightness of the upper 
skies, is encompassed with the effulgence of 
noon.' Its moral condition is perceived as 



IN ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 35 

in 'a vast panorama representing the entire 
course of its mortal life. It is at once the 
actor and the spectator of the eventful scene ; 
every thought as distinct, every word as 
articulate, and every incident as fresh as at 
the moment of their birth.'* 

" In the condition in which the soul thus 
exists in the intermediate state, the exercise 
of its mental faculties is something like 
what we experience in what w^e call medi- 
tation. When we are thus engaged we 
do not reason, nor put forth an effort of the 
will, nor in any other way actively use our 
minds. We look mentally upon the subject 
occupying our thoughts, and are passively 
affected by it, just as we are when we con- 

* u In such an insulated condition, it is probable that 
the entire consciousness, comprising as well the acts of 
the mind as its passive states, and its emotions, instead 
of constituting a continuous history, or a series of changes, 
they are coining on as the other recedes, would assume 
the appearance of a various aggregate of obstructions, or 
as if simultaneously existing, and would be associated 
with no idea of the past and the present ; nor be attended 
with an anticipation of the future." — Physical Theory 
of Another Life, p. 69. 



o 



6 THE SOUL'S EXISTENCE 



template a fine landscape. We repose dur- 
ing lengthened periods upon a single idea, 
without a wish for progression or change, if 
we are pleased with what arrests our atten- 
tion. So in the intermediate state the soul 
is employed in contemplating God, and its 
own moral condition ; and in these subjects 
of thought all its mental faculties are in- 
tensely absorbed and concentrated. 

"If its moral affections are in a right con- 
dition, it becomes 'the passive recipient of 
influences instinct with a delight so tranquil, 
and with a peace so unbroken, that weari- 
ness, satiety, and the desire for change, ap- 
pear to have departed from it forever.' In 
contemplating the infinite excellence of God, 
and enjoying his favor, and the feelings of 
a perfectly holy mind, it experiences un- 
speakable happiness. 

" Thus, conscious only of God and its moral 
condition, and destitute of all sensation, it 
loses all measure of time, and arrives at the 
close of the intermediate state, not knowing 
whether ages have revolved, or but a mo- 
ment has passed during its secluded and iso- 



m ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 37 

lated state of existence. It passes through, 
the long period between death and the res- 
urrection as in a delightful dream, in which 
a thousand years is but a single day, and a 
single day seems as a thousand years. * 

* 'Another opinion respecting the mode of 
the soul's existence in the intermediate state, 
and the one generally held by divines, is, 
that the soul, after its connection with the 
body is dissolved, retains not only the exer- 
cise of its passive faculties, but also its active 
powers. As a disembodied spirit, it pos- 
sesses the ability to act as well as it does to 
think. It not only meditates and exercises 
its affections, and is passively the recipient 
of happiness flowing in upon it from the 
subjects which absorb its attention, but it 
likewise reasons, remembers, and wills in 
the same manner as it did when an inhabit- 
ant of our world. While it is intensely 

* In the exposition of this hypothesis of the mode of 
the soul's existence in the intermediate state, the lan- 
guage of Isaac Taylor is blended with that of Sir James 
Stephen, who wrote a review of Physical Theory of An- 
other Life, in the Edinburgh Review of 1840. 

4 



38 the soul's existence 

conscious of its moral condition and of the 
presence of God, and enjoys the happiness 
springing from the possession of a perfectly 
holy mind, and from contemplating the infi- 
nite excellence of its Creator, it is also fully 
sensible of the glories of heaven, and is a 
busy actor in its scenes. It enjoys the 
friendship of Christ, and holds direct com- 
munion with him in his human nature. It 
mingles in the society of angels and re- 
deemed saints. It explores the various 
fields of knowledge which are opened to its 
view in the heavenly world. It acts as a 
king and priest unto God, and serves him 
day and night in his temple. It thus as 
actively employs its intellectual faculties as 
it does in the present life. 

" Whether it holds any communication 
with this world, or any other part of the visi- 
ble creation, is a doubtful matter. For the 
means by which it gained any knowledge 
of the visible universe when an inhabitant 
of the earth, were the various organs and 
senses of the body. But its connection 
with these is entirely dissolved by death. 



IN ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 39 

Deprived of the use of the bodily senses, it 
neither hears, sees, touches, smells, tastes, 
nor in any other way comes in contact with 
the material creation as it did in the present 
life. Hence the sun, earth, moon, and stars, 
and all the various objects they contain, 
must become a complete blank or nonentity 
to the soul as soon as it leaves the body. It 
must be as incapable of perceiving the visi- 
ble material creation as we are the invisi- 
ble spiritual world. 

" This, however, may not be so. The soul 
in its disembodied state, by some means un- 
known to us, may be able to come into 
closer contact with the world and the rest 
of the visible universe, than it did when it 
dwelt in the body. A purely spiritual 
being, like a human soul in the intermedi- 
ate state, for anything we know to the con- 
trary, may be able to experience all the 
qualities of matter which we perceive by 
the fine senses of the body ; and, indeed, 
many more. It may possess, as some sup- 
pose, such an inherent susceptibility to the 
qualities of matter, that it has a perception 



40 the soul's existence 

of them without the intervention of the 
bodily senses. If this is so, then an enclo- 
sure in a body like ours would greatly shut 
in its knowledge of the visible universe, in- 
stead of enlarging it. 

"But whether this is so or not, the soul 
released from the body is intensely alive to 
the spiritual and invisible world. If it is 
incapable of perceiving the material crea- 
tion — the sun, earth, moon, and stars — it is 
fully sensible of the existence of the heav- 
enly world — the spiritual Paradise — the 
New Jerusalem— the City of God. In this 
abode it dwells between death and the resur- 
rection, a disembodied spirit, intensely ex- 
ercising all its mental as well as its moral 
faculties. 

" These are some of the opinions, Mr. L., 
which have been held by divines respect- 
ing the mode of the soul's existence after 
death. You see that they are nothing but 
mere conjectures. And such will ever be 
the result of all human effort to obtain any 
satisfactory information on this mysterious 
subject. In respect to this matter, beyond 



IN ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 41 

what the Bible reveals, all mankind must 
ever be involved in the same darkness. 
The philosopher knows no more about it 
than the savage, and the learned divine is 
just as ignorant of it as the unlettered Chris- 
tian." 

"I fully admit the truth of your remark, 
Mr. M. But, as the Bible has given us a 
little light respecting the condition of the 
soul in the intermediate state, I should like 
to ask you which of these conjectures or 
hypotheses you regard as most in accord- 
ance with the statements of the sacred writ- 
ers ? Do you believe the view which repre- 
sents departed spirits secluded from all in- 
tercourse with the universe, and conscious 
only of Grod and their own moral condition, 
as much in accordance with the declarations 
of the Bible, as the one which considers 
them in the exercise of their active as well 
as passive faculties?" 

"By no means, Mr. L. The Bible, it is 
true, does not shed much light on this sub- 
ject. But what little information it does 
afford, seems to me decidedly to favor the 
4* 



42 the soul's existence 

conclusion, that the soul in the intermediate 
state is as active in the exercise of its mental 
powers, as it was when it dwelt in the body. 
We are certainly warranted in drawing this 
inference from the account given us of 
Dives and Lazarus, and of Moses and Elias 
on the Mount of Transfiguration. In these 
instances of human beings existing in the 
spiritual world, we see them reasoning and 
conversing together, and reqognizing each 
other, and in other ways exerting their 
mental powers as they did when they were 
inhabitants of the earth. So, also, the souls 
slain under the altar, whom John saw in his 
heavenly vision, are represented as exer- 
cising their intellectual faculties in a similar 
manner. The same truth seems a natural 
inference from all those passages which 
affirm that the souls of Christians as soon as 
they leave the body, go immediately to heav- 
en. These intimations of the future world 
appear to warrant us in believing in a state 
of active as well as passive existence be- 
tween death and the resurrection. They 
imply that departed spirits in heaven are in 



m ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 43 

possession of a kind of happiness, the enjoy- 
ment of which demands the exercise of 
their intellectual as well as moral faculties. 

"The view taken by Isaac Taylor and 
some others, of the mode of the soul's ex- 
istence in the intermediate state, seems to 
me to be founded more on an examination, 
by unassisted human reason, of what must 
be the condition of a disembodied spirit, 
than on what the Bible has revealed respect- 
ing this subject. The truth or falsity of 
this hypothesis, however, I do not regard as 
of any great consequence. For it presents 
us with a consoling and even a delightful 
prospect of the intermediate state. The 
righteous, on this supposition, are at rest 
from all the evils of life. They are per- 
fectly free from sin and sorrow, and are in 
possession of unspeakable happiness. On 
the morning of the resurrection they will 
awake from their quiescent, passive state of 
being, as from a delightful dream, and begin 
a mode of existence in which every intel- 
lectual as well as moral faculty shall be 
intensely exercised." 



44 the soul's existence 

"It seems to me strange, Mr. M., that the 
Bible has not thrown more light on the 
state of the soul when it leaves the body. 
The period between death and the resur- 
rection is almost immeasurably the longest 
space of time in the life of every man, from 
the beginning of his existence till after the 
general judgment. All our departed friends 
are disembodied spirits. We ourselves are 
every moment standing on the borders of 
the spiritual world, and shall soon be a part 
of its inhabitants. Hence, the mode of the 
soul's existence between death and the res- 
urrection is a subject of the deepest inter- 
est to every thoughtful mind, and I cannot 
but regard it as something strange that the 
Bible has not given us more knowledge on 
this subject. How do you account, Mr. M., 
for this silence of the sacred writers ?" 

"I do not know. Mr. L., that I can offer 
any satisfactory explanation of it. Perhaps 
it is to be attributed to the fact, that the 
intermediate state is such a mode of exist- 
ence, that if a description of it had been 
embodied in language and revealed in the 



m ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 45 

Bible, we could form no conception of it. 
The manner in which a human being exists 
in a world where he is entirely deprived of 
all his bodily organs, and yet is full of intel- 
lectual life and happiness, is so unlike any- 
thing we have experienced on earth, that 
it is probably beyond our comprehension, 
even if one of our departed friends should 
come back from the land of spirits and 
attempt to communicate it to us. Doubtless, 
should such, a visitant from the spiritual 
world be asked to recount the amazing 
scenes through which he had passed, he 
would find human language utterly incapa- 
ble of conveying his thoughts. He would 
only exclaim, Eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither hath it entered into the im- 
agination of man to conceive, of that state 
of being which awaits every one of the 
human race, when his mortaj. frame is laid 
in ruins by death." 

" Your explanation of this matter, Mr. M., 
is satisfactory to me. I do not think, as 
you observed, that we could form any con- 
ception of the state of a disembodied soul, 



46 the soul's existence 

if a description of it was revealed in human 
language. We must await 'the great 
teacher, death,' before the darkness which 
hangs over this subject will be dispelled. 
But yet I have an eager and intense curi- 
osity to gain some idea of what it is to be a 
disembodied spirit." 

" Such a curiosity, Mr. L., is natural to every 
thoughtful, reflecting mind. But we may 
rest assured, that however incapable we are 
of forming any conception of the condition 
of the soul between death and the resurrec- 
tion, it is a delightful state of existence to 
those who, while absent from the body, are 
present with the Lord. They are elevated 
to an immeasurably higher state of being 
than when they were inhabitants of our 
world. They are strangers to sin and sor- 
row, and are enjoying perfect happiness. 
However strange and mysterious their mode 
of existence may seem to us, yet to them it 
is life, where there is everything to please 
the mind and delight the heart, and afford 
them ' bliss everlasting and unknown.' " 

Several other topics suggested by this 



IK ITS DISEMBODIED STATE. 47 

subject were discussed, until at length Mr. 
L. perceiving that it was beginning to be 
late in the evening took his leave, and prom- 
ised, at the request of Mr. M., to call again 
soon and resume their conversation. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE LOCATION OF THE WOULD IN WHICH THE SOUL 
RESIDES BETWEEN DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 

A few days passed away and Mr. L. and 
Mr. M. were again engaged in discussing the 
condition of the soul, after death has severed 
its connection with the body. 

" At our last interview/' the former remark- 
ed, "we considered the mode of the soul's ex- 
istence in the intermediate state between 
death and the resurrection. We both agreed 
that we could gain no certain information on 
this point. I should like to inquire of you, 
now, your views of the residence of the soul 
in eternity until the day of judgment. 

" I remember that in your sermon you 
endeavored to show that the soul resides in 
some particular place during its disembodied 
state. I have heard some express a contrary 
opinion. I have heard them affirm as their 



RESIDENCE OF THE SOUL. 49 

belief in regard to this matter, that the soul 
has no particular locality in the spiritual 
world, — that its heaven or hell is the com- 
plexion of its moral character, whereby ac- 
cording as it is sinful or holy, it is everlast- 
ingly happy or miserable." 

"I know that there are some persons, Mr. 
L., who hold this opinion. But the Bible ap- 
pears to me to establish clearly the opposite 
conclusion. Every candid, unprejudiced 
mind, I think, must be convinced, that while 
it affirms that the happiness or misery of the 
soul in eternity depends very materially on 
its moral affections, it also teaches that the 
disembodied spirit resides in some particular 
world, which is its own place, — its everlast- 
ing home. 

" Thus, for instance, Lazarus, after his 
death, was carried by angels to Abraham's 
bosom, the place which the Jews regarded as 
the everlasting home of the righteous in the 
future world. So, also, the soul of the penitent 
thief, the same day that he was crucified, 
went with Christ to Paradise, — another 
term by which the Jews designated the 
5 



50 THE SOUL BETWEEN" 

home of the disembodied spirits of the right- 
eous. 

"Moreover, Paul affirms that for Christians 
to die is to depart and be with Christ, and 
that as long as they are present in the body 
they are absent from the Lord. Now that 
Christ dwells in some particular part of the 
universe, where he is enthroned in glory and 
worshipped by saints and angels, is explicitly 
stated in the Bible. 

" Furthermore, the Bible represents heaven 
under a great variety of images, which con- 
clusively convey the idea that it is a parti- 
cular separate place, instead of being a mere 
specific state of the moral affections. It de- 
scribes it as a kingdom prepared for the 
righteous from the foundation of the world 
— a building whose maker is God — a city 
free from sin and sorrow, and adorned with 
unfading beauty. Hence it is evident that 
the disembodied spirit dwells in some parti- 
cular places, and does not find its heaven or 
hell entirely in the nature of the moral char- 
acter which it carries into eternity." 

"I think your argument, Mr. M., fully es- 



DEATH AND RESURRECTION. 51 

tablishes this conclusion. But where do jqu 
suppose that world to be situated, which 
forms the home of the soul after it is released 
from the body ?" 

" It is impossible to say, Mr. L. On this 
subject the Bible throws no light. The 
home of the disembodied spirit is commonly 
thought to be in some far-distant region of 
the universe, beyond 'the flaming bounds 
of space and time.' To reach it, the soul, it 
is supposed, is obliged to perform a long 
mysterious journey, under the guidance of 
angels. This opinion may possibly be cor- 
rect. There are some declarations in the 
Bible which apparently favor it, — such as 
those which speak of the passage of angels 
to and from our world, and of their convey- 
ing the souls of the righteous to heaven. 
But these are only figurative representations 
of the subject, and they establish nothing 
beyond the fact that the disembodied spirits 
of Christians go to heaven, when they pass 
into the eternal world. 

" The world of departed spirits, instead of 
being situated in some distant parts of the 



52 THE SOUL BETWEEN 

universe, may be in the closest proximity to 
us. It may be all around us, so that we live 
in it, just as much as we do in our own 
world. ' It is possible the distance of heaven 
lies whollv in the veil of flesh, which we now 
want power to penetrate. A new sense, a 
new eye, might show the spiritual world en- 
compassing us on every side.' * 

" As the spiritual world is under different 
laws, and under an entirely different econo- 
my, and is composed of different materials 
from the earth and the rest of the visible 
universe, it may inter-penetrate our system 
without disturbing it, or even indicating its 
own existence by any manifestation percep- 
tible by us. There are some qualities of the 
material universe which are of such a nature, 
that we may be in the closest proximity to 
them without being able to perceive them by 
any of the senses of the body. We learn 
their existence only by an inference of the 
understanding. l Thus electricity may pass, 
unnoticed, through a perfectly conducting 

* Dr. Channing. Sermon on the Future Life. 



DEATH AND KESUKRECTION. 53 

substance, or the magnetic attraction takes 
its way through intervening bodies, which 
in no sensible manner it disturbs ; and thus, 
too, does the power of gravitation take effect 
at the greatest distances, without" rendering 
itself sensible in any other manner than that 
of effecting an approximation of masses.' 

" Now, of materials such as these may the 
spiritual world be composed, and thus be all 
around us, without our being at all conscious 
of it. There may be ' on all sides of us, an 
invisible element sustaining its own species 
of beings. Within the space encircled by 
the sidereal revolutions, there may exist and 
move a second universe, not less real than 
the one we are conversant with, — a universe 
elaborate in structure and replete with life ; 
a universe conscious, perhaps, of the material 
spheres, or unconscious of them. Our plan- 
ets in their sweep do not perforate the struc- 
ture of this invisible creation ; our suns do 
not scorch its plains ; for the two collated 
systems are not connected by any active 
affinities.' * 

* Physical Theory of Another Life, p. 197. 

5* 



54: THE SOUL BETWEEN 

In such a world as this, encompassing us 
on every side without our being able to per- 
ceive it, departed spirits may dwell between 
death and the resurrection. Situated thus in 
regard to the earth, they may be more inti- 
mately present with us than when they dwelt 
in their bodies. Invisible to us, they may 
see with the clearness of noon everything 
which is taking place here. They may thus 
witness the joys and sorrows of their friends, 
and rejoice with them in their prosperity, 
and sympathize with them in their afflictions. 
They may behold lands dark with the habit- 
ations of iniquity, changing into gardens of 
holiness by the labors of Christians, and be 
filled with pleasure at the contemplation of 
the delightful prospect. They may see vice 
and crime desolating the world, and mourn 
over the sad spectacle unfolded to their view. 
They may see the good or the evil they have 
done living in its results, and blessing or 
cursing generation after generation till the 
end of time. 

" Such may be the situation of the spiritual 
world in respect to our own. It may so per- 



DEATH AND RESURRECTION". 55 

vade the earth on which we dwell, that its 
inhabitants may be constantly present with 
us and witness all our actions. Or it may be 
located in such a manner, that its inhabit- 
ants are excluded from all observation of 
what is taking place here, and can gain no 
other knowledge of our affairs than what is 
communicated by angels, or by God himself." 

"But after all, Mr. M., which of these views 
is the correct one is of no very great conse- 
quence. For wherever the home of the dis- 
embodied spirit who is present with Christ 
may be, it is undoubtedly a world of incon- 
ceivable beauty and glory." 

il In regard to that point, Mr. L., the Bible 
leaves us in no doubt or ignorance. For it 
gives us a full and satisfactory account of the 
infinite excellence of the heavenly world. 
The language in which the Bible describes it 
is indeed figurative. But it is of such a 
nature as to convey the idea, that heaven is 
a world the beauty and grandeur of which 
are only dimly shadowed forth by all that is 
lovely on earth. It is the place where 
God displays the perfectness of his char- 



56 THE SOUL, ETC. 

acter in a manner such, as are seen nowhere 
else in the universe. It is the place where 
Christ is enthroned in glory. It is the 
capital of the divine empire, and is adorned 
with everything which can render it delight- 
ful to the exalted beings who inhabit it. ' It 
is the home of saints and angels — the region 
never visited by sin and sorrow, and where 
there is nothing but perfect holiness and joy. 
A world of such a character as this, Mr. L., 
is a place in which the disembodied spirit 
will be unspeakably happy, situated wher- 
ever it may be ; whether it is all around us, 
or in some distant region of the universe." 

" Undoubtedly, Mr. M. And as I think of 
it I cannot but exclaim, ' Oh when shall I 
awake and find me there !' '■■ 

Such was the substance of the conversa- 
tion at this time between Mr. L. and Mr. M. 
There were several other points suggested by 
this subject which they thus discussed. But 
as they had only an incidental connection 
with the leading topic of their discourse, it is 
not necessary to detail them. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE EMPLOYMENTS OP THE SOUL IN THE INTERMEDI- 
ATE STATE. 

At their next interview, Mr. L. and Mr. 
M. discussed the subject of the occupation of 
the soul in its heavenly home. 

1 ' You endeavored to show in your sermon," 
commenced Mr. L., " that the disembodied 
spirit in heaven must be intensely active. 
The truth of the sentiments you advanced 
on that occasion is evident from our own 
experience in the present life. Without 
agreeable employment there is no such thing 
as happiness on earth. Place a man in a 
palace and surround him with every source 
of joy, and yet let him have nothing to agree- 
ably occupy his thoughts and time, and he 
would soon be miserable in the midst of the 
scenes of pleasure around him. So it would 
undoubtedly be in heaven. Delightful oc- 
cupation of the mental faculties must be as 



58 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

indispensable a condition of happiness there 
as here." 

" In regard to that point, Mr. L., there can- 
not be a reasonable doubt. It is true that 
heaven is sometimes spoken of in the Bible 
as a place of rest. But this we are to under- 
stand in a comparative sense. Heaven is a 
rest from sin — a rest from trouble and pain, 
and all the other numerous evils of life. Yet 
those who enter that rest are not idle. They 
are all kings and priests unto God, and serve 
him day and night in his temple. They are 
constantly occupied, there is every reason to 
believe, in employments suited to their ex- 
alted condition." 

" What do you suppose, Mr. M., are the par- 
ticular employments of the righteous in their 
disembodied state ?" 

"I do not know, Mr. L., that I can answer 
your question positively ; for the Bible has 
not given us any light on this, subject. Yet 
I think we may assume it as certain, that the 
employments of the righteous between death 
and the resurrection, are very much the same 
as those in which they will be occupied after 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 59 

they have received their spiritual bodies. It 
is true that in the resurrection they will pass 
through such a change as may fit them for 
higher services in the empire of God, and 
which may also bring' them a great accession 
of happiness. Yet there is no reason to be- 
lieve that their employments will be materi- 
ally different from what they were in the in- 
termediate state. 

M For, during the period between death and 
the resurrection they reside in heaven — the 
same place which will be their eternal home. 
They are in the immediate presence of Christ 
— where they will always be. They are the 
companions of angels — whose society they 
will enjoy throughout eternity. They are 
perfectly free from sin and sorrow — the same 
moral condition in which they will exist after 
the general judgment. Hence, I think we 
may assume it as certain, that the employ- 
ments of the righteous in their disembodied 
state, will be very much the same as they 
will be after the resurrection." . 

" Allowing the correctness of this assump- 
tion, Mr. M., then, of course, devotion must 



60 [employments of the soul 

be one of the principal occupations of saints 
in heaven. For the Bible frequently speaks 
of them as being thus employed." 

" Undoubtedly it is so, Mr. L. One of the 
principal employments of disembodied spirits 
is contemplating the perfections of God, and 
adoring him for the infinite excellence of his 
character. In the heavenly world the soul 
perceives God by 4 a consciousness intuitive 
and irresistible.' It sees him not as on earth 
through a glass darkly, but as clearly and 
certainly as it beheld the material creation in 
the present life. I do not mean, however, 
that it looks directly on the being of God; 
for in this sense no eye hath seen, or can 
see him. But the perfections of the divine 
character are manifested in such fulness and 
brightness, that the soul seems to be sur- 
rounded by God, as if encompassed by an 
atmosphere of light. All over the heavenly 
world the holiness, justice, wisdom, and good- 
ness of God, shine out in an endless variety 
of forms, and present to the view of its inhab- 
itants a moral landscape of infinite grandeur 
and beauty. The disembodied spirits, ani- 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 61 

mated by the strongest affection to God, and 
encompassed by the glories of his character, 
finds unspeakable joy in communion with 
him. The mind is delightfully occupied in 
contemplating his perfections, and the heart 
in inditing his praise. 

" I do not know that I can give you a bet- 
ter idea of what I conceive to be the employ- 
ment of disembodied spirits in this respect, 
than by reading to you an extract from the 
Conversion of President Edwards, written by 
himself: c As I was walking in a solitary 
place, for contemplation, and looking upon 
the sky and clouds, there came into my mind 
a sweet sense of the glorious majesty and 
grace of God that I know not how to ex- 
press. I seemed to see them both in a sweet 
conjunction ; it was a gentle and holy majes- 
ty ; and also a majestic meekness ; a high, 
great, and holy gentleness. The appearance 
of everything was altered ; there seemed to 
be, as it were, a calm, beautiful appearance 
of divine glory in almost everything. God's 
excellency, his wisdom, purity, and love, 
seemed to appear in everything — in the sun, 




62 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

moon, and stars ; in the clouds and sky ; in 
the grass, flowers, trees, water, and all nature. 
I often spend much of the day in viewing 
these things, to view the glory of God in 
them ; in the meanwhile singing forth in a 
low voice, my contemplations of the Creator 
and Eedeemer.' This experience of the 
sainted Edwards, seems to me to convey a 
faint idea of the unspeakable joy of a disem- 
bodied spirit in heaven, employed in con- 
templating the glory of God, and adoring 
him in view of the perfections of his char- 
acter. 

" While the contemplation of the glory of 
God thus forms one of the employments of 
the soul in the intermediate state, adoration 
of Christ, and communion with him, doubt- 
less engages much of its attention. For we 
frequently read in the Eevelation of John of 
Christ's being worshipped by saints and an- 
gels. Hence, there is every reason to believe 
that Christ in his divine nature absorbs much 
of the attention and thoughts of redeemed 
spirits. They are filled with unspeakable 
admiration as they contemplate his infinite 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 63 

greatness, and with the warmest gratitude 
and love as they think of his unsparing self- 
denial in their behalf. 

11 And while they adore him in his divine 
capacity, they hold the most intimate com- 
munion with him in his human nature. 
Dwelling in his immediate presence as the 
incarnate Eedeemer, they hold direct perso- 
nal intercourse with him. They enjoy the 
open vision of his countenance. They con- 
verse with him face to face, and are united to 
him in the bonds of a friendship more inti- 
mate than they ever formed with any of the 
human race. Besides these modes of inter- 
course with Christ, disembodied spirits may 
have other means of communion with their 
Saviour." 

" Your last remark, Mr. M., reminds me of 
an opinion of Dr. Watts, which I recently 
read. He says, in a sermon of his on the 
Happiness of Separate Spirits : ' May not our 
Lord Jesus Christ himself be the everlasting 
teacher of his church ? May he not at sol- 
emn seasons summon all heaven to hear him 
publish some new and surprising discoveries 



64 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

which have never yet been made known to 
the ages of nature or grace, and are reserved 
to entertain the attention, and exalt the 
pleasure of spirits advanced to glory V What 
do you think of the correctness of such a 
supposition ?" 

u I do not know, Mr. L., but that it is quite 
probable; others have expressed the same 
opinion. Thus Dick, in his Philosophy of a 
Future State, says : * Perhaps it may not be 
beyond the bounds of probability to suppose) 
that at certain seasons, during a great con- 
vocation of the redeemed, with Jesus their 
exalted head as President among them, that 
glorious personage may impart to them 
knowledge of the most exalted kind ; direct 
their views to some bright manifestations of 
Deity, and deliver most interesting lectures 
on the works and ways of God. On such 
topics as these, we may suppose our Ee- 
deemer, in the character of Mediator, to oc- 
casionally expatiate with irresistible elo- 
quence, when presiding in the assemblies of 
the Kedeemed.' It may be that disembodied 
spirits do enjoy such communion with Christ. 



IN THE INTEKMEDIATE STATE. 65 

If this supposition may be entertained, then 
we have an additional idea of the delightful 
employments of the redeemed in the heaven- 
ly world. 

" Another of the employments of disem- 
bodied spirits is probably intercourse with 
angels. These glorious beings are in possess- 
ion of everything which can render their 
society attractive to the redeemed in heaven. 
They are endowed with the loftiest capacities. 
Their knowledge is almost boundless in its 
extent. Their hearts are the abodes of 
meekness, purity, kindness, and love. Their 
conduct is characterized by everything that 
is noble, upright, generous and benevolent in 
moral action. They have ranged from one 
part of the divine empire to another for 
thousands of years. The works of God in 
creation, providence, and redemption, they 
have studied till they behold them, in com- 
parison with us, with the clearness of noon- 
day. In the enjoyment of the society of 
these exalted beings, disembodied spirits in 
heaven, we may.well suppose, are occupied 
much of their time." 
6* 



66 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

" How interesting, Mr. M., must be the con- 
versation of such beings?" 

" Yes, Mr. L. It has been well said by a 
distinguished divine of our own country, l The 
history of one angel may be a volume of 
more various truth than all the records of 
our race.' 

11 Besides the society of angels, there is rea- 
son to believe that disembodied spirits pass 
much of their time in intercourse with one 
another. In that world which is their espe- 
cial home, are assembled patriarchs, prophets, 
apostles, martyrs, and the pious great of 
every age and country. They constitute a 
great multitude such as no man can number 
of all nations and kindreds, and people and 
tongues. In this innumerable company of 
just men made perfect, what materials must 
there be for interesting society and delight- 
ful friendship. They are all free from every 
imperfection, and in possession of boundless 
joy. No error spreads its mists over their 
minds. No prejudice perverts their judg- 
ments. No sin ever taints their thoughts 
and action. Their understandings are filled 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 67 

with light, and their hearts with holiness 
and benevolence. Each one, too, of this in- 
numerable multitude has a particular history 
to relate of the trials he endured, the tempt- 
ations he encountered, and the victories he 
gained over sin and sorrow in his earthly- 
pilgrimage. How strange, various, and in- 
tensely interesting must be these accounts 
which disembodied spirits thus give each 
other of their lives on earth. How much 
light must they throw on the providence of 
God, and how delightfully must pass the 
time of those who are occupied in listening 
to the rehearsal of them." 

11 May we not suppose, Mr. M., that disem- 
bodied splits in heaven are also occupied in 
renewing the friendships they formed on 
earth? Do you not believe that they will 
know each other in the intermediate state, 
and retain the affection which they had for 
their friends when they left the world ?" 

"In regard to this matter, Mr. L., I have 
no doubt whatever. It is true that the Bible 
throws no light upon it, as it gives us only 
a general and indefinite account of the heav- 



68 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

enly world. But it seems to me that heaven 
would be divested of half of its blessedness 
if I thought that I should not recognize 
there my departed friends." 

" You express my thoughts exactly, Mr. M. 
It seems to me, also, that, if I should go to 
heaven and not recognize my beloved ones, 
and be known and loved by them in return, 
I should feel desolate and lonely in the midst 
of all the joy and glory of that delightful 
world. I lately met with one of Bryant's 
poems which is so beautiful in itself, and so 
justly expresses my feelings, that I have 
committed it to memory : 

' How shall I know thee in the sphere which keeps 

The disembodied spirits of the dead, 
When of all thee that time could wither sleeps, 

And perishes with the dust we tread ? 
For I shall feel the sting of ceaseless pain, 

If there I meet thy gentle presence not ; 
Nor hear the voice I love, nor read again 

In thy serenest eyes the tender thought. 
Wilt not thine own meek heart demand me there ; 

That heart whose fondest throbs to me were given ? 
My name on earth was ever in thy prayer ; 

Shall it banished from thy tongue in heaven ? 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 69 

In meadows fanned by heaven's life-breathing wind, 

In the resplendence of that glorious sphere. 
And larger movements of the unfettered mind, 

"Wilt thou forget the love that joined us here ? 
The love that lived through all the stormy past, 

And meekly with my harsher nature bore, 
And deeper grew and tenderer to the last ; 

Shall it expire and be no more f 



" This beautiful poem exactly expresses my 
feelings in respect to the recognition of 
friends in the heavenly world. I cannot but 
feel, that I shall carry the affection which I 
entertain for my departed friends into eter- 
nity. I cannot but feel, also, that they still 
remember me, as they did when I was en- 
joying their society on earth. Do you not 
believe, Mr. M., that I am right in this 
opinion ?" 

11 1 certainly do, Mr. L." 

"But, Mr. M., I should like to have you 
give your reasons for believing in the recog- 
nition of friends in the intermediate state, as 
I do not recollect that you said anything on 
that subject in your sermon." 

11 1 think the following course of reasoning, 



70 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

Mr. L., sufficiently proves it in the estima- 
tion of every candid person. 

u The mind carries with it into eternity the 
faculty of memory unimpaired, and, indeed, 
greatly invigorated ; so that it retains a live- 
ly recollection of everything which it did in 
the present life. This truth plainly follows 
from what the Bible reveals of the accounta- 
bility of man for his conduct here, and the 
recompense which he is hereafter to receive 
for the deeds done in the body. If every 
human being is responsible to God for his 
actions on earth, and will be rewarded or 
punished by his Maker according to the na- 
ture of his moral character, then mankind 
must retain in the future world a distinct and 
vivid remembrance of everything connected 
with the present life. They must remember 
all their actions while inhabitants of our 
world. For otherwise, there would' be no 
fitness in the recompense meted out to them. 
They would only be punished or rewarded 
for conduct in a state of existence which they 
had forgotten. Hence, they must remember 
everything which they knew and experienced 



D? THE INTEKMEDIATE STATE. 71 

on earth. This being the case, then of course 
they remember their friends who died before 
them, and also those who are still alive. Such 
a conclusion as this is plainly warranted by 
the parable of Dives and Lazarus, in which 
the rich man is represented as remembering 
in the world of despair his friends who were 
still living. 

"In the next place, the departed not only 
remember their friends, but likewise retain 
the same affection for them which they had 
when they were inhabitants of our world. 
For in passing through the change of death, 
they leave nothing of their intellectual con- 
stitution behind them but their sinful pro- 
pensities, and those desires and passions 
which have their origin in the body. All 
that belongs to the mind which is of an in- 
nocent character they carry with them into 
eternity. Now, the love of friends is of this 
description. It is a perfectly blameless feel- 
ing when confined within its proper limits, 
and belongs to the mind and not to the body. 
And what reason is there to believe that the 
soul in passing from time into eternity, loses 



72 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

this affection any more than it does benevo- 
lence to mankind, brotherly love to Chris- 
tians, or complacent admiration of the char- 
acter of good men ? None at all. If our 
friends are worthy of our love here, we shall 
retain our affection for them in the future 
world ; as much so, it seems to me, as we 
shall for prophets, apostles, martyrs, and all 
others whom on account of their moral ex- 
cellence w^e are accustomed to esteem and 
admire on earth. I do not see any reason 
for believing that we shall lose our love for 
the one class of persons more than we shall 
for the other. 

" Furthermore : the argument in favor of 
the recognition of friends in the intermediate 
state, is greatly strengthened by considering 
what would be gained to the happiness of 
the redeemed by ignorance and forgetful ness 
in the heavenly world of the friends they 
loved on earth. In reference to this matter 
I will read to you an extract from the works 
of an eminent divine of Scotland : 

11 'Would it be any part of the perfections 
of the saints in heaven to have all their for- 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 73 

mer ideas obliterated, and to meet as stran- 
gers in the other world ? Would it give us 
any more favorable notion of the assembly 
in heaven, to suppose it to consist of a mul- 
titude of unknown individuals, who never 
hold communion with each other ; or by 
some inexplicable restraints are prevented, 
amidst an intimate mtercourse, from making 
mutual discoveries ? Or have they forgotten 
what they themselves were, so that they 
cannot reveal it to their associates ? 

" ' What would be gained by this ignorance, 
no man can tell ; but we can tell what would 
be lost by it. They would lose all the hap- 
piness of meeting again on the peaceful shore, 
those from whom they were separated by the 
storms of life ; of seeing among the trophies 
of divine grace many of whom they had de- 
spaired, and for whose sakes they had gone 
down with sorrow to the grave ; of knowing 
the good which they had been honored to 
do, and being surrounded with individuals 
who had been saved by means of their pray- 
ers, instructions, and labors. How could 
those whom he had been the instrument of 
7 



74 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

converting, and building up in the holy faith, 
be to the minister of the Gospel a crown of 
rejoicing in the day of the Lord, if he did 
not recognize them when standing at his 
side ? The saints will be free from the tur- 
bulence of passion, but their innocent affec- 
tions will remain, and how could they spend 
eternal ages without asking : Are our chil- 
dren here? Are our still dearer relatives 
here ? Have our friends, with whom we took 
sweet counsel together, found their way to 
this country to which we travelled in com- 
pany till death parted us ? And if to these 
questions no answer could be returned, 
would they be happy ?' 

"In conection with this I will read to you 
an extract from the works of a distinguished 
divine of our own country : 

" c Did I think of those who are gone as 
dying to those who are left, I should honor 
and love them less. The man who forgets 
his home when he quits it, seems to me to 
want the best sensibilities of our nature ; and 
if the good were to forget their brethren on 
earth in their new abode, could we think of 
them as improved by the change?' " 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 75 

"I think, Mr. M., that the sentiments ad- 
vanced by these two divines, conclusively 
prove that the happiness of the redeemed in 
heaven would be greatly diminished by their 
not recognizing and loving those with whom 
they were connected by the ties of friendship 
on earth." 

" So it seems to me, Mr. L. And if you put 
the three following propositions together, it 
appears to me that there is an argument es- 
tablished in favor of the recognition of 
friends in eternity, sufficient to satisfy every 
reasonable man. 1. Disembodied spirits 
must remember what they did on earth, in 
order to be fit subjects of retribution in the 
spiritual world. 2. There is no reason what- 
ever for believing that the redeemed in 
heaven have lost their affection for their 
friends on earth. 3. It is the obvious dictate 
of reason that the happiness of saints in their 
heavenly home would be greatly diminished, 
by remembering no more those whom they 
loved in this life." 

11 Such a course of reasoning, Mr. M., is 
satisfactory to my own mind. But are there 



76 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

not some good arguments against the recog- 
nition of friends in Heaven ? I have some- 
times heard persons express their doubts on 
this point." 

" It is true,Mr. L., that objections are some- 
times advanced against it. But it seems to 
me that they can be easily refuted. As far 
as I remember to have heard them express- 
ed, they are the following : 

" In the first place, it is said that the right- 
eous in heaven are c so much absorbed in the 
contemplation and enjoyment of God, that 
they will not need the society of others, and 
will be insensible to their presence.' This 
objection is good only in the supposition that 
the soul exists in the intermediate state se- 
cluded from intercourse with all other beings, 
and is conscious alone of God and its own 
moral condition. But I do not adopt this 
view of the subject. I regard it as at vari- 
ance with the Bible, which, in what it says 
about disembodied spirits, warrants us in 
believing that their intellectual as well as 
moral faculties, are intensely active in the 
period between death and the resurrection. 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 77 

Allowing the truth of this opinion, which 
seems to me to be conclusively established 
in the New Testament, then the objection in 
question is founded entirely on an erroneous 
idea of the effect which devotion is to have 
on the soul as one of its employments in 
the spiritual world. Contemplation of the 
glory of (rod forms, indeed, one of the prin- 
cipal employments of the redeemed in 
heaven. But intense absorption of the mind 
in adoring the divine character, no more ex- 
cludes the love of holy beings and pleasure 
in their society, than the same occupation of 
the mental powers does on earth exclude 
the affection we entertain for our friends, 
and the joys we feel in intercourse with 
them. Does the good man in this life feel 
less interested in his friends in proportion 
as he becomes more devoted to the contem- 
plation of the divine glory ? Certainly not. 
Men of piety on earth find that love to God 
and enjoyment in communion with him, do 
not any the less make them delight in the 
presence and conversation of their families, 
and all others whom they love and admire. 



78 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

And why should the same employment of 
the mental faculties produce an entirely dif- 
ferent effect in heaven? No reason what- 
ever can be assigned for it. It is just as 
improbable, as that intense absorption in 
God on the part of the inhabitants of 
heaven should produce insensibility to the 
incarnate Eedeemer. 

" Another objection which is sometimes 
urged against the recognition of friends in 
heaven, is that disembodied spirits when 
they enter the future world, form new friend- 
ships with their celestial associates ; and as 
the family relations by which they were con- 
nected on earth are dissolved, hence the 
affection founded on these earthly ties will 
also cease. I cannot answer this objection 
better than by quoting a short extract from 
one of the writers whom I have already cited 
on this subject. f The good indeed will form 
new, holier, stronger ties above ; but under 
the expanding influence of that better world 
the human heart will be capacious enough 
to entertain the old while it receives the new, 
to remember its birth-place while enjoying a 
maturer and happier being.' 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 79 

11 This objection against the recognition of 
friends in heaven is answered better still in 
one of Southey's poems : 

1 They sin who tell us love can die ; 
With life all other passions fly, 
All others are but vanity. 
In heaven ambition cannot dwell, 
Nor avarice in the vaults of hell ; 
Earthly these passions, as of earth, 
They perish where they have their birth. 
But love is indestructible — 
Its holy flame forever burneth — 
From heaven it came, to heaven returneth : 
Too oft on earth a troubled guest, 
At times deceived, at times opprest ; 
It here is tried and purified, 
And hath in heaven its perfect rest ; 
It soweth here with toil and care, 
But the harvest time of love is there. 
Oh! when a mother meets on high 
The babe she lost in infancy, 
Hath she not then, for pains and fears, 

The day of woe, the anxious night, 
For all her sorrow, all her tears, 

An over-payment of delight V " 

" To these very just sentiments it might be 
added, Mr. M., why should a man in forming 
new relationships in heaven with saints and 



80 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

angels, any more lose his love for his friends 
on earth, than the member of a family by 
going abroad in foreign lands and making 
new friends, forget those which he has left 
at home ?" 

" A question, Mr.L., very well propounded, 
and one which those who bring this objection 
against the recognition of friends in heaven 
would find it difficult to answer." 

" There is one objection, Mr. M., which you 
have not noticed ; and that is the difficulty 
of knowing our friends in the future world 
when all the marks by which we recognize 
them on earth are entirely absent. The way 
by which in this life we recognize our friends 
is their personal appearance. But that has 
entirely vanished along with the destruction 
of their bodies. How, then, can we recognize 
them in heaven so that they shall seem the 
same beings that they were on earth ? This 
difficulty is well expressed in that poem of 
Bryant's which I repeated a few minutes 
since : 

' How shall I know thee in the sphere which keeps 
The disembodied spirits of the dead, 



m THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 81 

When of all thee that time could wither sleeps, 
And perishes with the dust we tread ?' " 

"The difficulty you speak of, Mr. L., is more 
apparent than real. It is true that in this 
life it is by their personal appearance prin- 
cipally that we recognize our friends when 
we meet them, and that it is by that means 
we distinguish them from strangers. But 
yet, their moral and mental qualities have 
almost as much, to do with this recognition 
as their bodily appearance. When, for in- 
stance, we think of our absent friends, our 
conception of them arises nearly as much 
from their moral and intellectual character 
as from the cast of their countenances or the 
form of their bodies. So, also, if we meet 
with them after a separation of many years, 
and find them so entirely changed in their 
personal appearance as scarcely to bear any 
resemblance to what they were when we 
parted with them ; yet if we perceive no alter- 
ation in their mental and moral qualities 
they seem to us the same beings they were 
formerly. We love them just as much as 



82 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

ever, and feel as much interested in their 
society. • 

"Now, our friends take their mental and 
moral characters with them to heaven un- 
changed, except that all their imperfections 
are left behind. Hence, they have in the 
spiritual world essentially the same distin- 
guishing marks of recognition by which we 
knew them on earth. They still possess all 
those qualities of heart and mind by which 
they endeared themselves to us when they 
were inhabitants of our world. Such being 
the case, we shall have no difficulty in recog- 
nizing them if we are ever so happy as to be 
admitted to their eternal home. Even if 
there is nothing in their mode of existence 
as disembodied spirits by which we can tell 
them from the rest of the inhabitants of 
heaven, yet perceiving them to be the same 
morally and intellectually as formerly, we 
shall at once feel at home in their society, 
and experience a renewal of that friendship 
by which we were bound to them on earth. 

"But it is by no means improbable that 
there may be personal marks of recognition 



1ST THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 83 

by which redeemed spirits in heaven in their 
intermediate state are as distinguished from 
one another, as clearly as one human being 
in this world is distinguished from the rest 
of the race. It may be, as I have already 
stated, that the souls of the righteous between 
death and the resurrection are clothed with 
bodies which are intermediate between those 
they now have and those which will consti- 
tute their spiritual bodies. If this is so, then 
they will possess a personal appearance — a 
personal appearance, doubtless, bearing a 
resemblance to that by which they are dis- 
tinguished in the present life, and thus ren- 
dering them capable of being recognized by 
their friends, as Moses and Elias were by the 
disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, or 
as Dives recognized Lazarus when he saw 
him in Abraham's bosom. 

"But, whether this is so or not, I have no 
doubt that when friends meet in the heaven- 
ly world they at once mutually feel that they 
are the same beings to each other that they 
were when they dwelt together in this life." 

u I think, Mr. M., that you have satisfac- 



84 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

torily answered this objection. But there is 
yet another, and a much more formidable one 
than any of those we have considered, which 
I should like to have you solve. It is this : 
if redeemed spirits know each other in heav- 
en, and retain the affection which they had 
on earth for their friends, then those whose 
friends are excluded from the heavenly world 
will c feel the sting of ceaseless pain 7 in their 
hearts. In their abode of perfect happiness 
they will think of those who were so dear to 
them in this life as enduring endless misery, 
afid the thought of their suffering must cast 
a gloom over the joys of Paradise." 

"This objection, I admit, Mr. L., looks 
rather formidable. But I think this a satis- 
factory explanation of it: Among all the 
inhabitants of heaven there is perfect resig- 
nation to the will of God. Whatever God 
does, receives their cordial approval and un- 
hesitating assent. They feel without one 
opposing inclination that He doeth all things 
well. Now this perfect submission to the 
will of God, this entire union of feeling with 
him in all his actions, must lead them to ac- 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 85 

quiesce in whatever he .does without a single 
pang of sorrow, however much he may cross 
the natural inclinations of their hearts. Hence 
the sentence of God, which excludes their 
unconverted friends from the heavenly world, 
will receive their cordial and unhesitating 
approbation. Their understandings, their 
consciences, their affections, and their will, in 
perfect unison decide with God. Just and 
true are thy ways, thou King of saints, is 
the response alike of their minds and hearts 
when they witness the execution of the 
divine sentence which rolls an impassable 
gulf of separation between them and those 
who were once as dear to them as their own 
lives. Sympathizing in their feelings per- 
fectly with God, they cease to think of their 
lost friends in any other light than as the 
enemies of their everlasting King, and rebels 
against his righteous government." 

" Your answer, Mr. M., to this objection in 
some measure removes the difficulty. And 
yet it seems to me that we cannot be per- 
fectly happy in heaven if some of those 
whom we so fondly love on earth are endur- 
8 ; 



86 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

ing the woes of endless perdition while we are 
in a paradise of boundless felicity. In that 
delightful world in which we have our abode, 
we must often think of them in their forlorn 
condition, and be filled with sorrow at the 
thought of their wretched, hopeless state. 
But however difficult it may be to reconcile 
the perfect happiness of the redeemed with 
the exclusion of some of their friends from 
the joys of heaven, yet I have no doubt that 
in some way unknown to us it is done. At 
least I think we may safely take this ground, 
that if God, who loves all the human race 
with the strongest affection, can exclude any 
of them from heaven and yet be perfectly 
happy, that the friends of those exiled from 
all joy may witness the execution of the 
divine sentence and likewise be exempted 
from sorrow." 

" Your remark, Mr. L., is a very just one. 
I perfectly agree with you, that the fact that 
God witnesses the perdition of the lost with- 
out having his happiness disturbed by the 
consideration of their misery, renders it 
certain that the redeemed in heaven may be 



IN THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 87 

perfectly happy even if some of their friends 
are in the world of despair. 

"But we have widely wandered from our 
subject in thus discussing the recognition of 
friends in the spiritual world. If you have 
no more questions to ask in reference to this, 
matter we will return to the point from 
whence we have digressed, and resume the 
topic which was then engaging our atten- 
tion." 

11 No, Mr. M., I believe that I have brought 
up everything of any interest to me in con- 
nection with this subject. And I should be 
glad to have you further state what you 
regard as constituting the employments of 
the redeemed in their disembodied state." 

"I stated, Mr. L., that saints in heaven are 
occupied in contemplating the. divine glory, 
in holding intercourse with Christ, and en- 
joying the society of angels and just men 
made perfect, and in renewing the friend- 
ships they formed in this world. Besides 
these employments there is, perhaps, still 
another in which they are frequently en- 
gaged. It may be that they are occupied 



88 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL 

in doing the will of God in various kinds 
of active service, like the angels. These 
exalted beings are frequently employed in 
executing the plans and purposes of God in 
different parts of the universe. Especially 
are they thus employed in our world. The 
Bible clearly reveals the fact, that from the 
beginning of the human race angels, in obedi- 
ence to the divine will, have exerted an im- 
portant influence on human affairs, and will 
continue to do so till the final consummation 
of all things. Sometimes they visit our world 
on errands of benevolence to all our race. 
Sometimes they come to execute the divine 
displeasure upon the guilty. At other times 
they minister to the heirs of salvation in ways 
unknown to us. 

" Now, it does not seem at all improbable 
that the redeemed between death and the 
resurrection are thus employed. So far from 
it, to me it seems quite a rational supposition. 
For all the inhabitants of heaven and all holy 
beings in the universe, as far as we are made 
acquainted with them by revelation, are en- 
gaged in some kind of active service. God 



m THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 89 

is unceasingly employed in upholding the 
universe in existence, and originating and 
controlling all the events that transpire in 
the whole creation. Christ is perpetually 
employed in carrying on his mediatorial 
government over the world. Angels are 
employed in doing God's will in every part 
of his dominions. 

" Since all holy beings are thus engaged in 
some kind of active service, it seems quite a 
rational conclusion that disembodied spirits 
are also in some such manner employed. 
How, we know not. Yet, as' they still take 
a deep interest in the affairs of the world 
they once inhabited, the opinion is held by 
many, that they are frequently engaged in 
benevolent offices among the human race, in 
ways of which we can form no conception. 

11 This, in addition to the other employ- 
ments I have mentioned, I believe to con- 
stitute the occupation of saints in heaven. " 

"How delightful, Mr. M., must be such em- 
ployments. How delightfully must the ages 
of eternity roll away in such an occupation 
of the faculties of the soul." 
8* 



90 EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SOUL. 

" Yes, Mr. L. We can form no adequate 
idea of such happiness. Eeleased from sin 
and sorrow, engaged in worshipping God 
and contemplating his glory, holding direct 
personal intercourse with Christ, enjoying 
the society of angels and of one another, per- 
forming dignified offices of benevolence -to 
the human race, the righteous in their dis- 
embodied state must experience happiness 
such as our feeble minds can but faintly con- 
ceive." 



CHAPTER V. 

THE DURATION OE THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 

The conversation detailed in the preceding 
chapter having occupied all the time that 
Mr. L. thought he could with propriety spend 
in a single interview with Mr. M., he with- 
drew and took his leave. A short time after- 
wards he called again upon Mr. M., for the 
purpose of discussing the only remaining 
topic of his sermon, which was the duration 
of the intermediate state between death and 
the resurrection. The conversation was re- 
sumed by Mr. L. remarking : 

" I believe, Mr. M., that we have discussed 
the several portions of your sermon, except 
the period during which the soul remains in 
its disembodied state. I have but a vague, 
indistinct recollection of what you advanced 
on that point, as several weeks have passed 
by since that time. I think, however, you 



92 THE DUKATTON OF THE 

endeavored to show that though the duration 
of time between death and the resurrection 
is not determined in the Bible, yet there is 
reason to believe that it is a very long period, 
consisting of many ages." 

" Yes, Mr. L., that was the position I took. 
The amount of what I said, as far as I can 
recollect it, was this. The soul is to remain 
in its disembodied state until the resurrec- 
tion, and the resurrection wi]l not take place 
until the end of the world. Before the oc- 
currence of this event — the final consumma- 
tion of all things — a great change, according 
to the Bible, is to pass over the earth, which 
will require many ages to be completed. All 
the great moral evils which for six thousand 
years have scourged the human race, are to 
be gradually exterminated by the progress of 
Christianity. The Gospel is to root out 
every form of false religion, and fill the world 
with holiness and happiness. After this glo- 
rious era in the history of our earth has ar- 
rived, many ages are to pass away before it 
comes to its close. The long period of the 
millennium is to fulfil its course. This will 



INTEKMEDIATE STATE. 93 

certainly be at least a thousand years in its 
duration, and, in all probability, will continue 
a much longer period of time. Some com- 
mentators believe that it will last more than 
three hundred thousand years. Whether 
this interpretation is to be received or not 
as the true exposition of the term millennium, 
it is the opinion of theologians and biblical 
scholars generally, that the triumphant reign 
of Christianity will continue a great many 
centuries. It will doubtless last several thou- 
sand years, so as to afford a period long 
enough for the number of the saved to sur- 
pass, immeasurably, that of the lost, at the 
end of the world. Now, during all this time, 
while Christianity is spreading over the 
earth, and while the era of its millennial 
glory is passing away, the soul separated 
from the body is to remain in the state inter- 
mediate between death and the resurrection. 
Hence, you see, that the period in which 
mankind are to remain disembodied spirits, 
is an exceedingly great length of time, with 
the exception of those who enter the spirit- 
ual world towards the final consummation of 
all things." 



94 THE DURATION OF THE 

" It is, indeed, Mr. M., a long period, and 
our existence on earth, in comparison with 
it, seems but a mere point of time." 

14 It will, undoubtedly, Mr. L., be to the 
majority of the human race by far the long- 
est period in their lives, between the com- 
mencement of their being and the resurrec- 
tion. Even the longest life on earth is ex- 
ceedingly short in comparison with it. The 
nine hundred years of Methuselah's life may 
be only a mere point of time when compared 
to the period in which he will exist as a dis- 
embodied spirit." 

"Do you think, Mr. M., that the time be- 
tween death and the resurrection seems as 
long to the redeemed in heaven as it does 
to us?" 

" I am unable, Mr. L., to form a positive 
opinion on this subject. I incline, however, 
to the belief, that the flight of time in the 
spiritual world is not marked as it is with us. 
For, to the inhabitants of heaven there are 
none of the signs by which we note the lapse 
of years and centuries. With them there is 
no succession of day and night. With them 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 95 

the seasons do not come and go. With them 
there is no beating of the pulse, no swinging 
of the pendulum, no change and decay, nor 
any other marks by which the flight of time 
here is observed. The course of their life 
instead of consisting of a succession of dif- 
ferent periods, as when they dwelt on earth, 
may seem to them one eternal now. In such 
a state of being, and occupied in the most 
delightful employments, they may pass the 
time between death and the resurrection 
without having had any consciousness, by 
experience, of the many ages which have 
rolled over the world. It may be with the 
disembodied spirit as a celebrated poet has 
observed, 

■ An age shall fleet like earthly year ; 
Its years as moments shall endure. 7 " 

11 When this long period has passed away, 
and the resurrection takes place, what change, 
Mr. M., do you conceive the disembodied 
spirit will experience ?" 

" I do not know, Mr. L., that we can form 
any idea of it, until we ourselves become the 



96 THE DURATION OF THE 

subjects of it. The soul, at the time of the 
resurrection, is to be united to the body from 
which it has been so long severed. Whether 
the body with which it is to be connected 
will be composed of the same materials as 
the one which was laid in ruins by death, or 
whether it will be only a more perfect devel- 
opment of a corporeal organization which it 
may possess in its intermediate state, it is 
impossible to say. The Bible, it is true, 
gives us some of the particulars of this great 
change. Yet the ideas intended to be con- 
veyed by the language it uses, are only gen- 
eral and indefinite. Nearly all that we know 
of the resurrection is furnished by Paul, in the 
15th chap, of his 1st epistle to the Corinth- 
ians. And the amount of knowledge on 
this subject which he has there given, is thus 
summed up and explained by Dick, in his 
Philosophy of a Future State: 

H ' The body,' says the apostle, ' is sown 7 
or committed to the grave, L in corruption, 
it is raised in incorruption,' — liable no more 
to decay, disease, and death, but immortal 
as its Creator. { It is raised in power' — en- 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 97 

dowed with strength and vigor, and incapa- 
ble of being weakened or exhausted, and 
fitted to accompany the mind in its most 
vigorous activities. ' It is raised in glory/ 
— destined to flourish in immortal youth and 
beauty, and arrayed in a splendor similar to 
that which appeared on the body of Christ 
when his face did shine as the sun, and his 
garments became white and glittering. c It 
is raised a spiritual body' — refined to the 
highest pitch of which matter is susceptible, 
capable of the most vigorous exertions and 
of the swiftest movements, endowed with 
organs of perception of a more exquisite and 
sublime nature than those with which it is 
now furnished, and fitted to act as a suitable 
vehicle for the soul in all its celestial services 
and sublime investigations. 7 

" Such is the change through which dis- 
embodied spirits are to pass at the resurrec- 
tion. They are to be connected with bodies 
which will bear such a resemblance to those 
which they had on earth, that they will re- 
cognize an identity, or sameness, between 
them. Yet in most respects they will be en- 
9 



98 THE DURATION OF THE 

tirely different. For, instead of being com- 
posed of flesh and blood, and subject to dis- 
ease, decay, and death, they will be spiritual 
in their nature — organized without th e pres- 
ent animal functions — so completely con- 
trolled by the mind, as to seem a part of it 
— and endowed with immortal vigor and ce- 
lestial glory. Of such a change as this, 
through which disembodied spirits pass at 
the resurrection, we can form no more con- 
ception than we can of the change they ex- 
perience when they enter on the state inter- 
mediate between death and the resurrection." 

" I have heard the opinion sometimes ad- 
vanced, Mr. M., that the body of our Saviour, 
after his resurrection, may be regarded as an 
illustration of the spiritual bodies of the 
righteous which are to be raised in glory. " 

" I think such an opinion, Mr. L., quite 
reasonable. And I lately met with an inter- 
esting description of Christ's body after his 
resurrection, which I will read to you. It is 
contained in Wayland's University Sermons : 

11 l The body borne by the Messiah, seems 
to have changed all its relations to matter. 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 99 

The stone at the mouth of the sepulchre 
could not confine it. That stone was rolled 
away, not to allow the spiritual body of the 
Messiah to come forth, but to allow the 
weeping disciples, who had come to embalm 
him, see the place where their Lord had lain. 
Bolts and bars could not exclude it, for when 
the doors were shut, where the disciples were 
assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus 
and stood in the midst of them, and saith 
unto them, Peace be unto you. 

" ' It seems to have been a body henceforth 
incapable of suffering from any form of ma- 
terial injury. It yet bore, unharmed, the 
prints of the nails in its hands, and that 
ghastly wound in the side, made by the spear 
of the soldier. " Then saith he to Thomas, 
Eeach hither thy finger, and behold my 
hands, and reach hither thy hand and thrust 
it into my side, and be not faithless but be- 
lieving." But these words created neither 
pain nor suffering to this glorified body. 
Nay, are we not taught that the spiritual 
body of the Messiah yet bears those scars 
which it received in its last conflict with our 



100 THE DUKATION" OF THE 

spiritual enemies? "I beheld, and lo, in 
the midst of the throne stood a lamb, as it 
had heen slain. And I heard the voice of 
many angels round about the throne, saying 
with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that 
was slain, to receive power and riches and 
wisdom and strength and honor and glory 
and blessing." 

u l This body of the Messiah seems to have 
been in all respects subject to the will of the 
spirit which inhabited it. It could, at pleas- 
ure, be present or absent in the upper cham- 
ber at Jerusalem, or in the mountains of 
Galilee, or on the shore of the lake Q-enesa- 
ret. Even its outward manifestations to 
others seemed to depend wholly upon the 
volition of the spirit with which it was united. 
Now, the Messiah seems to his disciples as 
an humble wayfaring man, on the road to 
Emmaus ; on the instant he appears to them 
in his proper person, and vanishes out of 
their sight. Sometimes he is not only visi- 
ble, but tangible, so that they can have no 
doubt of his identity < All these manifesta- 
tions are wholly inconsistent with the ordi- 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 101 

nary laws to which, matter is subjected. 
They belong not to a natural, but to a spirit- 
ual body.' 

" This description of our Saviour's body, 
such as it appeared after it had been raised 
from the dead, conveys, it seems to me, about 
as clear an idea of the spiritual bodies which 
the righteous will receive at the resurrection 
as we can conceive, until we are enlightened 
by actual experience." 

" Why do you suppose, Mr. M., that the 
resurrection is appointed to disembodied 
spirits Z" 

" I do not think, Mr. L., that we can know 
in the present life, all the reasons why the 
redeemed need to pass into this new mode of 
existence. Some of them, however, we may 
rightly conjecture. 

M Such a change as that experienced in the 
resurrection may be necessary, because the 
redeemed will thereby be fitted for higher 
employments in the service of Grod. The 
righteous in heaven are doubtless engaged 
between death and the resurrection, in filling- 
high offices in the divine empire. But there 
9* 



102 THE DURATION OF THE 

may be much higher and more important 
functions, as kings and priests unto God, 
which they cannot perform in their disem- 
bodied state. To discharge them effectually 
they need the aid of their bodies. Without 
being connected with a bodily organization, 
such as the angels possess, it may be that 
they will not be able to arrive at equality 
with these exalted beings, and fill the lofty 
stations under the divine government which 
the angels have held from the commence- 
ment of their existence. 

11 We may regard the resurrection as neces- 
sary, in order that disembodied spirits in 
heaven may receive a much greater accession 
of happiness. The righteous, during the in- 
termediate state,, are as happy as they can 
be, and their condition is so much superior 
to what it was in this world, that we can 
scarcely form a conception of it. Still, though 
entirely free from sin and sorrow, it is an im- 
perfect mode of existence compared with 
that which succeeds the resurrection. By 
their reunion with their bodies, the righteous 
will probably enjoy many sources of pleasure 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 103 

from which, they are necessarily excluded in 
their disembodied state. Their spiritual bod- 
ies may form a medium through which they 
will participate in numerous sources of joy 
unknown to them until after the resurrec- 
tion. 

" There is yet another reason for the re- 
union of the soul and body, which takes 
place at the resurrection. It is thus expressed 
by Melville, the celebrated English preacher : 

" ' If there shall come a judgment, of course 
the beings rewarded or punished must be the 
very beings who have been virtuous or 
vicious in this present existence. There can 
be nothing clearer than that the individuals 
judged, and the individuals recompensed, 
must be the very individuals who have here 
moved and acted, the sons and daughters of 
humanity. But how can they be ? The soul 
is not the man. There must be the material 
as well as the immaterial, to make up the 
man. The vicious person cannot be the suf- 
fering person, and the virtuous person can- 
not be the exalted person, unless body and 
soul stand together at the tribunal, consti- 



104 THE DURATION OF THE 

tuting the very person they constituted here. 
Hence, if there be a judgment hereafter, the 
individuals judged must be the very individ- 
uals who have obej^ed here, or disobeyed 
here. But if the material part be dissolved, 
and there remain nothing but the immaterial, 
they are not, and they cannot be, the very 
same individuals.' " 

"I perceive, Mr. M., that the questions I 
have proposed have led us far away from the 
subject of our discussion, which is the length 
of time between death and the resurrection." 

" Yet they are questions, Mr. L., which are 
naturally suggested in connection with this 
subject, and which cannot fail of deeply in- 
teresting every intelligent, reflecting mind." 

" They are of the highest interest to me, Mr. 
M. And in comparison with them and those 
we have previously discussed, all other in- 
quiries sink into insignificance. Whether we 
are to survive the stroke of death and remain 
conscious thinking beings, how we are to ex- 
ist in the spiritual world, where we are to 
dwell in the intermediate state, what are to 
be our employments there, how long we are 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 105 

to remain disembodied spirits, and what is 
the change experienced in the resurrection, 
are questions of infinite consequence to every 
human being." 

" They are undoubtedly so, Mr. L. It is 
true that we can obtain but little light upon 
them, however diligently we may pursue 
them. Yet we can obtain enough to console 
us in sorrow, to lead us to be heavenly- 
minded in the midst of the things of time 
and sense, and fill us with joy as we look 
forward to eternity." 

11 Yes, Mr. M., it is so. In reference to my- 
self I can truly say that the light revealed 
from heaven on these deep, mysterious, yet 
all important subjects, dim and scanty as it 
is, gives me peace in trouble, comfort in sor- 
row, and unfolds to my view delightful pros- 
pects as I look beyond the confines of this 
world." 

11 Your experience Mr. L., might be that of 
every human being when suffering affliction 
from the loss of friends. For there is enough 
revealed in the Bible of the providence of 
God and of the future world, to shed the 



106 THE DURATION OF THE 

light of peace and even of joy along our 
path of life, whenever it is darkened by the 
invasion of the great destroyer into our 
households. The fact that God does all things 
in infinite wisdom and goodness — the fact 
that our departed friends are still living, 
thinking beings ; and if they died in Christ, 
are unspeakably happy — the fact that they 
retain their affection for us in their heavenly 
home, and will welcome our arrival there 
with the deepest joy — and the probability 
that they are ever invisibly present with us 
as long as we live, and promoting our welfare 
as ministering angels, are truths which, if 
received with the same faith as we have in 
regard to the truths relating to the concerns 
of this world, will lead us to sorrow not with- 
out hope, and even to smile in the midst of 
our tears." 

"As I remarked to you before, Mr. M.,such 
has been in some measure my own state of 
mind in respect to the heavy afflictions I 
have experienced. And I feel myself much 
obliged to you for the assistance you have 
rendered me in arriving at this desirable 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 107 

result. Previous to the discussions I have 
held with you respecting the state of the 
dead, although I felt resigned to the will of 
God in view of my afflictions, yet I had such 
vague, indefinite notions of the land of spir- 
its, that my departed friends appeared to have 
gone from me forever. I thought of them 
as in some far-distant world, and so changed 
that they were scarcely the same beings as 
when they dwelt with me on earth. Hence, 
the remembrance of them was attended not 
only with the deepest grief, but with feelings 
amounting almost to despair. They were 
gone, and it seemed as if they were cut off 
from all sympathy and communion with me, 
as much as if they had ceased to exist. That 
I should ever see them again, was rather a 
conviction of the understanding than a warm 
feeling of the heart. As I thought of them, 
I felt a darkness in my mind, a sense of lone- 
liness and desolation of spirit, which I can 
but imperfectly express. 

" These feelings, it is true, abide with me 
still in some measure, and I do not suppose 
that they will ever wholly depart from me, 



108 THE DURATION OF THE 

as long as I remain in this world. For the 
companions who have hitherto walked with 
me along the journey of life, who have 
shared with me all my joys and sorrows, and 
who have loved me with the same affection 
which they had for themselves, have gone to 
a mysterious region from whence they will 
never return. They are separated from me 
by a barrier over which they cannot pass. I 
shall go to them, but they will never come 
back to me. I shall meet them no more on 
earth. In this world I shall never see those 
countenances, always to me radiant with 
love. I shall never hear again those voices 
which always spoke to me in accents of affec- 
tion. I never again shall grasp those hands 
which were always ready to perform for me 
every needed office of kindness and friend- 
ship. No. The delight of my eyes and the 
joy of my heart are gone, and henceforth I 
shall ever feel but a stranger and pilgrim in 
the world. 

"But though still sad and lonely, yet I feel 
very different from what I did previous to 
these interviews which I have held with you. 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 109 

The weight of grief which had for several 
months weighed heavily on my spirits, has 
been greatly relieved by the views I have 
recently taken of the spiritual world. Fully 
assured by revelation of the conscious exist- 
ence of my departed friends, and convinced* in 
their new abode they still retain their former 
affection for me, I think of them as if they 
were yet alive, and were merely absent from 
me for a little while. Eegarding their heav- 
enly home as lying all around me, instead of 
being situated in some far-off world, it seems 
as if I was connected with them in such a 
manner as to be surrounded by their pres- 
ence, and sometimes could hear their voices 
whispering in my ears accents of affection 
from eternity. Believing that they are ready 
to welcome my arrival among them with the 
deepest joy, I look forward to the future and 
see that soon every barrier between them and 
me will be removed, and that I shall join 
their society in a world where change, sepa- 
ration and death can never come. Contem-. 
plating my departed friends in this light, while 
I mourn their absence at the same time, I 
10 



110 THE DUKATION OF THE 

experience cheerfulness and even joy as I 
think of them in their heavenly home, and 
feel how near they are to me, and how soon I 
shall be with them." 

" I am very glad, Mr. L., that you can find 
so much consolation in the midst of the deep 
afflictions through which you are called to 
pass. The account which you give of your 
feelings in reference to your departed friends, 
reminds me of a poem which I lately met 
with, and which seems to accord well with 
your state of mind. It is entitled, To one 
Departed, and was written by Hervey, an 
English poet. As I have it in my library, I 
will read it to you." 

"I will thank you to do so, Mr. M." 

" ' I know thou art gone to the home of thy rest, 

Then why should my soul be so sad ? 
I know thou art gone where the weary are blest 

And the mourner looks up and is glad ; 
Where love has put off in the land of its birth, 

The stains it had gathered in this, 
And hope, the sweet singer that gladdened the earth, 

Lies asleep on the bosom of bliss. 

I know thou art gone where thy forehead is starred 
With the beauty that dwelt in thy soul — 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 1 Ill 

Where the light of thy loveliness cannot be marred, 
Nor thy heart be flung back from its goal ; 

I know thou hast sipp'd of the Lethe that flows 
Through a land where they do not forget — 

That sheds over memory only repose, 
And takes from it only regret. 

This eye must be dark that so long has been dimm'd, 

Ere again it may gaze upon thine ; 
But my heart has revealings of thee and thy home, 

In many a token and sign : 
I never look up with a wish to the sky, 

But a light like thy beauty is there ; 
And I hear a low murmur like thine in reply, 

When I pour out my soul in prayer. 

In thy far away dwelling, wherever it be, 

I believe thou hast visions of mine ; 
And thy love that made all things as music to me, 

I have not yet learned to resign : 
In the hush of the night, on the waste of the sea, 

Or alone with the breeze on the hill, 
I have ever a presence that whispers of thee, 

And my spirit lies down and is still. 

And though like a mourner that sits by a tomb, 

I am wrapped in a mantle of care, 
Yet the grief of my spirit, 0, call it not gloom ! 

Is not the black grief of despair : 
By sorrow revealed, as the stars are by night, 

Far off a bright vision appears ; 
And hope, like the rainbow, a creature of light, 

Is born, like the rainbow, in tears.' " 



112 THE DURATION OF THE 

Eeader! are you mourning the loss of 
friends who have died in Christ and gone to 
a blissful immortality ? and do you entertain 
the hope that when you are absent from the 
body, you will be present with the Lord? If 
so, then let the views of the heavenly world 
which have been presented in the preceding 
discussions be duly considered, and you will 
find consolation, peace, and even joy. Your 
departed friends are still conscious beings 
dwelling in heaven, and you will soon meet 
them in that delightful world. As you con- 
template them under these two aspects — as 
you think of them in their glorified state, and 
how soon you will be with him — how much 
is there in the prospect unfolded to your 
view to relieve the deep darkness of your 
sorrow, and shed the light of hope and joy 
along your path. "Heaven," the region to 
which your departed friends have gone, is a 
social state, a city, a kingdom, a church, in 
which there is a great assembly, an innumer- 
able company, and in which the innocent 
and the good, the servants of the King 
Eternal, the spiritual and true worshippers 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 113 

of the Father, will meet together, and know 
each other, and never be separated any more. 
There the parent will see the child, improved 
by heavenly culture, and listen to the voice, 
now made musical, which in days gone by 
was the sweetest music he ever heard. There 
the child will find the parent, and hear from 
him those words of love and wisdom which 
were early lost to him on earth. There brother 
and sister will meet again, and exchange again 
that confidence and sympathy which passed 
between them and united them here. There 
the widowed wife will meet the husband, and 
the husband the wife ; and though they will 
be as the angels, where there is no mar- 
rying nor giving in marriage, the ties and 
affections of earth will not be forgoUen, and 
in spirit they twain will be one. 

11 Years soon finish their revolutions. A 
few more incidents, and the scene of mortal 
life is closed. Time hastens to restore that 
which we thought it was too hasty in de- 
manding. Death promptly repairs as well 
as destroys, rejoins as well as divides, is cruel 
and kind in quick succession. ' All the days 
10* 



114 THE DURATION, ETC. 

of my appointed time will I wait,' is the lan- 
guage of every pious spirit, l till my change 
come.' All the days are but a few. I will 
wait and hope, and cheerfully trust, till they 
are gone. The distance can be but small 
which keeps me from those whom I have 
loved, and yet love, and in the presence of 
God and my Redeemer, and in the light of 
heaven shall continue to love forever." 

a Pass a few fleeting moments more, 
And death the blessing shall restore 

Which death hath snatched away ; 
For me thou wilt the summons send. 
And give me back my parted friend, 

In that eternal day."* 

* Sermons of Consolation. By Greenwood. 



Books Published and for Sale by M. W. Dodd. 

A PASTOR'S sketches: 

Or, Conversations with Anxious Inquirers respecting the 
Way of Salvation. By Ichabod S. Spencer, D.D., Pastor 
of Second Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. 2 vols. 
12 mo. 

This work has had an almost unequaled sale, for one of 
its kind. For individuality and graphic delineation of 
character, and for absorbing interest to the reader, it is 
hardly surpassed by any thing in the language. 
A few opinions of the press are here subjoined : 

This is a book of remarkable interest. It is one of pastoral experi- 
ence ; and the thrilling interest that gathers about many of the scenes 
and incidents which it describes, justifies the comparison which has 
been made of it in this respect to the well-known " Diary of a Physi- 
cian." — Independent. 

It is a work of intense interest, and is destined to a wide circulation 
and great usefulness. — Albany Argus. 

We leave this book with reluctance. It has all the interest of War- 
ren's sketches, entitled "Diary of a Physician, 11 and it is an interest of 
a much higher order. It is a book, too, of a pointed and solemn in- 
struction, on the gravest of all themes. Nothing like it exists. — Amer- 
ican Bible Repository. 

This is a remarkable book. The work is written in a bold, clear, 
straightforward style, that carries the idea direct to the heart.— N. Y. 
Recorder. 

We have rarely read a book of a religiously didactic character that 
has abounded with so much strong practical good sense, or so much 
interest to us, as this volume. We warmly commend it to Christian 
pastors of every denomination. After reading it they will, we are sure, 
recommend it with equal fervor to those in their congregations who 
need its counsels. — Com. Advertiser. 

We can convey no idea of the exceedingly happy and triumphant 
logic often displayed in this volume. As an intellectual work, it is of 
surpassing interest. But in a spiritual point of view, the earnest, ab- 
sorbing desire to open plainly the way to Christ, and the tender religious 
feeling pervading all these discussions, give the work an interest and 
value which we feel in no danger of exaggerating. — A r . Y. Evangelist. 

The pictures are true to life, and are sketched with such graphic 
skill as to forbid the possibility of their having been the product of 
mere fancy. We earnestly hope that the work will have a very wide 
circulation. — IT. Y. Observer, 

Those sketches that we have as yet been able to read, are intensely 
interesting, especially that of the " Dying Universalist. 11 To those who 
are fond of lending good books, we would vehemently commend this 
as one that will be very sure to be read. — Puritwi Recorder. 

The book is in the dramatic form, and so vividly drawn that the 
reader becomes not merely a spectator, or a listener, but an actor in 
all that is described. Few will be able to leave it until they have read 
its last page.— Literary Messenger. 



BooJcs Published and for Sale by M. W. Dodd. 

THE BIBLE ITS OWN INTERPRETER: 

A Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures ; or, a 
Dictionary and Alphabetical Index to the Bible. By 
Alexander Cruden, M. A., by which, 

I. Any verse in the Bible may be readily fonnd by 
looking for any material word in the verse. To which is 
added, 

II. The significations of the principal words, by which 
their true meaning in the Scriptures is shown. 

III. An account of Jewish customs and ceremonies, il- 
lustrative o'f many portions of the Sacred Record. 

IV. A Concordance to the Proper Names of the Bible, 
and their meaning in the original. 

V. A Concordance to the Books called Apocrypha. 

To which is added : An original Life of the Author. 1 
voL royal 8vo, $3 50. 

In its Complete form this work has stood the test of 
more than one hundred and twenty-five years, outliving 
every attempted substitute, such as abridgments of this, or 
other works of similar character made out of it, Bible Anal- 
yses, Manuals, Commentaries, &c. As a help to the study 
of the Scriptures, it stands unrivaled among all who are fa- 
miliar with works designed for that purpose. It has been 
justly styled, " The Bible its own Interpreter." 

testimonials. 

From the Eev. Professor Goodrich, D.D., of Yale College, New Ha- 
ven. — I have made use of Cruden's Concordance for many years, and 
have always regarded it as a monument of industry, and an indispen- 
sable assistance, in its complete form, to the study of the Word of God. 

From the Eev. M. "W. Jacobus, D.D., of the Theological Seminary, 
Pittsburg, Pa. — No topical arrangement of passages, however complete 
and useful in its way, can answer the same purpose. It is, indeed, a 
self-interpreting Bible. Such a verbal Concordance as Cruden has pro- 
duced, is more needful to the Bible student than the dictionary to a 
common reader. 

From the Eev. William B. Sprague, D.D., (Presbyterian,) Albany. — 
It has been the companion of my whole life, both as a theological stu- 
dent and a minister; and it is the last book, with the exception of the 
Bible itself, that I would consent to have pass out of my hands. 

From the Eev. Thomas De Witt, D.D., (Dutch Eeformed,) New York 
City. — It is invaluable to the biblical student, and the abridgments 
which have been made of it furnish no idea of the thoroughness and 
fulluess of the original and complete work Other works, such as 
44 Gaston's Collection," "Scripture Manual," "Analysis of the Bible," 
&c., can never supply the place of the original Cruden's Concordance. 



Books Published and for Sale by M. W. Dodd. 

From the Rev. Bishop Janes, D.D., (Methodist Episcopal Church,) 
New York City. — No book has aided me more in the study of God's 
Word — enabling me to compare Scripture with Scripture, and interpret 
Scripture by Scripture. I believe Its usefulness both to laymen and 
ministers can hardly be overrated. 

From the Eev. J. B. Condit, D.D., of Lane Theological Seminary, 
Cincinnati, Ohio. — I have used it more than twenty years, with a grow- 
ing estimate of its value. In its complete form, as published by Mr. 
Dodd, I would earnestly commend it as the book that should find a 
place in every family by the side of the Bible. 

From the Eev. I. S. Spencer, D.D., (Presbyterian,) Brooklyn, N. Y. — 
Cruden's Concordance is, in my opinion, altogether superior to any 
other work of the kind. I do not believe that any Compendium, Ar- 
rangement, or Analysis of the Sacred Scriptures that has ever been 
published, is so well calculated as this to be of assistance to students of 
the Word of God. 

From the Et. Eev. Bishop Mcllvaine, D.D., (Episcopal,) Ohio.— No 
English Concordance can take its place or do without it. It is equally 
precious to the minister of the Word and the earnest reader of the 
Scriptures, or any sort or condition of men. 

From the Eev. Albert Barnes, (Presbyterian,) Philadelphia. — I have 
long been in the habit of consulting the work to which you refer, and 
deem it of inestimable value, and do not believe that it is superseded, 
or is likely to be, by any other similar work. 

From the Eev. H. Humphrey, D.D., late President of Ainhert Col- 
lege, Mass. — I have found it an invaluable help in " comparing Scrip- 
ture with Scripture." 

From the Eev. Samuel H. Cox, D.D., (Presbyterian,) late of Brooklyn, 
N. Y. — The value of Cruden's Concordance, unabridged and entire, I 
consider as incomparable and indispensable. 

From the Eev. Francis Wayland, LL.D., (Baptist,) President of Brown 
University. — I am happy to hear that you are publishing Cruden's Con- 
cordance in its original state. To the student of the Scriptures I con- 
sider it (I write deliberately) above all price. 

From the Eev. Gardiner Spring, LL.D., (Presbyterian,) New York 
City. — I can only say, that if I possessed but two books in the world, 
they 6hould be God's Bible and Cruden's Concordance. 

From the Eev. Joel Parker, D.D., (Presbyterian,) New York City. — 
It is a work worth more than all other books of reference combined for 
aiding in the study of the Sacred Scriptures. . . . Every Sunday- 
school teacher, every family, and every young person who has not easy 
access to it in the family of which he is a part, ought to have Cruden 
standing beside the Bible on his table. 

From the Eev. David S. Dosrgett, D.D., (Methodist,) Editor of the 
Southern Methodist Quarterly Review. — I regard Cruden's Complete 
Concordance to the "Holy Scriptures" as incomparably superior to 

every work of the kind that has ever appeared Besides 

furnishing the very best interpretation of the Sacred Writings, it is also 
a Dictionary of the Bible, of the highest utility to every student of the 
Word of God. 



Books Published and for Sale by M. W. JDodd. 

. $ 

* THE MERCY SEAT. 

THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY THE LOBD'S PBAYEB. 

In this volume intrinsic excellence and mechanical beauty are well 
combined. Kichness and maturity of evangelical thought and senti- 
ment are its characteristics; the ripe experience of a devout Christian 
clusters on every page; it is full of "marrow and fatness, of wine on 
the lees well refined." " The Mercy Seat" wiU be — can not but be — 
highly prized by Christians of all denominations. — Com. Advertiser. 

We regard it as the most valuable of all the distinguished author's 
works. It is a book for the family and the closet, and is equally well 
adapted to profit the plainest Christian and the most cultivated man of 
letters. — W. Y. Observer. 

The volume contains some of his best and most interesting dis- 
courses, and cannot fail to be most heartily welcomed by the religous 
public. The style in which it is published is exceedingly neat and at- 
tractive. — N~. Y. Courier ovud Enquirer. 

It is certainly one of the most favorable exhibitions of Dr. Spring's 
powers in illustrating and enforcing truths of the highest moment 
His theme is a delightful one, and the method of treating it all that 
could be desired. — Phil. Presbyterian,. 

This work is in Dr. Spring's best style — vigorous, perspicuous, and 
breathing the true Christian spirit It is not a book intended simply 
for the closet. It seizes upon a man in his daily walks — amidst the 
cares of his business — at his desk or in his workshop, and recalls him to 
a sense of his divine relations— and is worthy of a place in the choicest 
niche of the library. — Journal of Commerce. 



THE ATTRACTION OF THE CROSS. 

DESIGNED TO DLLUSTEATE THE LEADING TEUTHS, 
OBLIGATIONS AND HOPES OF CHRISTIANITY. 

It is the ablest and most finished production of its author, and will 
undoubtedly take its place in that most enviable position in the family, 
as a volume of standard reading, to be the comfort of the aged, and the 
guide of the young. "We commend it as one of the most valuable issues 
of the press.— N. Y. Observer. 

"We trust every family in our land will read this precious work, which 
illustrates so beautifully and attractively the leading truths, obligations 
and hopes of Christianity, as reflected from the cross of Christ — Albany 
Spectator. 

" The Attraction of the Cross" is destined to live among the very 
best productions of the church with which its respected author is con- 
nected. The style is remarkably pure, the arrangements of the topics 
lucid and methodical, and the arguments addressed with great force to 
the reason and conscience. It will stand by the side of "Doddridge's 
Eise and Progress," " Wilberforce's View," or the " Way of Life," in 
the libraries of future generations. — Newark Daily Advertiser. 

None will wonder at the rare success which this volume has won, 
who have read it. For comprehensiveness of views, beauty of style, 
and excellence and fervor of devotional feeling, few works have lately 
appeared that surpass it— N. Y. Evangelist. 



Books Published and for Sale by M. W. Dodd. 

FIRST THINGS. 

By Gardiner Spring, D. D. 
A Series of Lectures on the Great Facts and Moral Les- 
sons first revealed to Mankind. 2 vols. 12mo. 

" His Lectures are weighty discussions of the first great revelations 
to the race, as, God's First Work, the First Man, the First Woman, 
the First Marriage, the First Sabbath, the First Revolt in Heaven, the 
First Deceiver, Man's First Sin, the First Promise, &c. It i3 most 
beautifully printed, and in every way commends itself well." — Chris- 
tian Spectator. 

"Their most remarkable characteristic is the felicity with which 
they blend the attractive and the instructive. In many parts they are 
highly imaginative, even poetical ; and we recognize in them all the 
grace and beauty, and even fire, which have characterized the best of 
the Doctor's earlier productions ; and then, on the other hand, they 
are full of great thoughts, apt illustration, and cogent reasonings."— 
JV. Y. Observer. 

" This work is characterized by great ingenuity, and considerable 
beauty of style."— JV. Y. Tribune. 

u Old truths are vindicated, modern errors are exposed, sin is re- 
buked, and holiness encouraged." — Genesee Evangelist. 

" The venerable author has seized hold of them with his accustomed 
clearness of perception and good judgment ; and in deducing the 
important truths they contain, has invested them with surpassing in- 
terest. Elegant in style, thorough in discussion, sound in sentiment, 
and replete with the spirit of reverence and piety, the lectures are 
among the most attractive religious essays that we have ever met."— 
JV. Y. Evangelist. 

THE GLORY OF CHRIST, 

Illustrated in His Character and History ; including the 
Last Things of his Mediatorial Government. By Gar- 
diner Spring, D. D. 2 vols. 

* In these lectures he elucidates the Glory of Christ's Divine Nature, 
His Incarnation, His Human Character, His Glory as a Preacher, His 
Miracles, His Transfiguration, His Humiliation, Resurrection, and 
Ascension, the Mission of the Spirit, the Character of His Followers, 
the Wonder of Angels, — His Milennial Reign on Earth, His Glory as 
Final Judge, in the Destruction of His Enemies, and Christ Himself 
the Glory of Heaven. Such are the topics, around which he has skil- 
fully gathered the lights of the Bible, teaching, what every reader 
should understand, that Christ is the great central light and glory of 
the Sacred Volume, giving significance to every part of its contents." 
— Christian Observer. 

" The themes are noble. They are treated, too, with so much ful- 
ness, glowing earnestness, deep spiritual insight, and, withal, so much 
adherence to the revelation of God, that they instruct and enlighten 
while they animate and exalt the mind."— JV. Y. Observer. 

u The work will find its way into the library of thousands of laymen 
as well as clergymen, for it may be read with profit and interest by all 
who are desirous of seeing * the glory of Christ' promoted in the earth," 
"Christian Secretary, 



Books Published and for Sale by M. W. Dodd. 

SHORT SERMONS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

The following are the topics of this volume, believed to be eminently 
calculated for universal circulation as a work on the great practical 
truths of Christianity : — God Almighty. The Sabbath at Sea. The Sin 
ner's Friend. Unbelievers without Hope. The Curse of Abandonment 
reluctantly executed. Sin detected and exposed. The Great Alterna- 
tive. Fear relieved by trust in God. The terms of discipleship. The 
brazen Serpent. All is well. Remembrance of Sin. Eunning for the 
Prize. Aggravations of Sin. Conscious integrity a preservative from 
evil. Death on board the Ship. Restraining Prayer. The fear of God 
the great preservative from Sin. The wanderer restored. God's call 
refused. The night of tears, and the morning of joy. Room enough 
yet. The goodness of God in prolonging human life. True and false 
repentance. The excuses of men their condemnation. Scriptural 
views of Christ. 

In this volume the author has given us twenty-six sermons, imbued 
with the spirit of Christian zeal, and of a highly finished, as well as 
practical character. — Christian Intelligencer. 

These sermons are evangelical in sentiment, familiar, plain and ear- 
nest in manner, presenting themes for thought and action, well adapted 
to rivet the claims of the gospel on the minds of all. — Christ. Observer. 

Dr. Spring has a happy versatility of pastoral talent, and has done the 
cause of religion much service by the variety and worth of his publi- 
cations. The present is an earnest, ornate, and practical enforcement of 
religious truths, which will make it generally acceptable and useful. — 
Religious Recorder. 

He has presented the Christian "World with a volume of sermons, de- 
serving a place in the library of every minister and every family.— 
Baptist Register. 

THE POWER OF THE PULPITS 

OEi THOUGHTS ADDRESSED TO CHRISTIAN MINISTERS 
AND THOSE WHO HEAR THEM. 

It is impossible that any Christian minister should not be interested 
in this volume of Dr. Spring. It is rich in thought, various and forcible 
in illustration, and glowing with the fervor of scriptural piety. — 
Christian Mirror. 

We believe the volume before us contains many hints from which 
the most successful ministers might profit much. — Mich. Christ. Her. 

It contains a mass of solid learning, interesting and varied informa- 
tion, and eloquent appeals in relation to the sacred arrangement of the 
pulpit. The style of the work is as elegant and chaste as its matter is 
serious and important. — Presbyterian Treasury. 

Sound in doctrine, pure, strong and elevated in his diction, solemn in 
manner, with versatility, with compass of information and thought, 
and, above all, with a heart deeply enlisted in his sacred calling, he 
possesses rare qualifications for the work he has here undertaken.— 
Reflector and Watchman. 

To all men, clerical and lay, we commend this work, not only for its 
truth, but for the beauty of its style, and the force of its arguments, 
and its adaptation to meet a great want in every part of our country.— 



Books Published and for Sale by M. W. Bodd. 



A NEW MEMOIR OF HANNAH MORE; 



% f,J D , U Md ° 0tta ? e - B y Mrs - He ^n C. Ksight 
Embellished with a fine portrait of Mrs. More, and a 
view of Barley Wood, her residence, from fine steel en- 
gravmgs. 12mo. 

=7e1^ 

sake T o h f '^Sw'Vta* & butt VTIF??* ° f ° W materia,s ' for '"a 

ordS*^^^^^ 

every r eader."-^« ra 7^S a r tea,(ltnitseoaten ^^d so must be 

onto workV^ir'irunus'uarand^S , the meCha , nicaI ^^ 

in a dre s radap e te n d OU fo h thT^^' 7 T ? rth her DOb,e herotoe 

THE FIRST WOMAN. 

By Gaedinee Spring, D. D. 18mo. 



Books Published and for Sale by M\ W. Dodd. 



A BOOK FOR EVERY ONE. 



THE WORLD'S LACONICS; 

Or, The Best Thoughts of the Best Authors, Ancient and 
Modern, in Prose and Poetry. Alphabetically and Top 
ieally arranged. By Everard Berkeley. With an In 
troduction, by ¥m. B. Sprague, D. D. 1 vol. 12mo. 

" So far as we know, this is decidedly the best book of the kind in 
the whole of English, and, we be?ieve it may safely be added, of the 
world's literature." — Hartford Daily Times. 

"This Yolume contains a mine of valuable sayings and sentiments 
from the great masters of language. A California of Golden Thoughts, 
on subjects alphabetically arranged." — Christian Advocate. 

44 This is by far the best book of laconics ever published. It is a 
perfect storehouse of thought and truth, sparkling, from beginning to 
end, with the richest gems, gathered from the pages of the best authors 
of ancient and modern times." — New London Daily Star. 

a It contains a rich collection of great thoughts— thoughts which 
cannot die, for they have the principle of life in them." — Christian 
Observer. 

4t It is a glorious ocean of thought and sentiment, moral and spirit- 
ual." — Spectator. 

" Here is a book, " The World's Laconics," that has not a single 
paragraph in it that would not suffice to leaven a pretty big lump of 
modern reading." — Express Messenger. 

•* The labor and research necessary to make up such a volume as 
this, must have been very great ; but they are not greater than the 
good judgment and taste displayed in the manner of its execution."— 
Cumming^s Evening Bulletin. 

11 It is a book where are enshrined the richest pearls, fished from 
the great ocean of thought." — Christian Intelligencer. 

4< Here, on every page, sparkle the purest gems of those who have 
lived to enlighten, instruct and benefit the world, b their imperish- 
able writings." — Daily State Register. 

" This work seems to be carefully and skilfnlly compiled, and gives 
us a great accumulation of the wisest things that have been produced 
by the wisest men." — Puritan Recorder. 

"We regard it as an admirable addition to our literature, and it 
must be invaluable to all writers." — Morning Express. 

" Almost every subject within the range of human thought, is here 
presented in a brilliant and compact form." — Ch. Secretary. 

il We have here a great range, embracing almost every leading 
subject, illuminated and warmed by some bright conception, some 
exquisite sentiment, some pithy and striking saying of a noble mind 
In its best mood."— Bangor Whig. 



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